REVIEW in BOOKLIST of KEEPER OF THE LIGHT

 The following review of KEEPER OF THE LIGHT appeared in Booklist, April 15, 2022.

Keeper of the Light: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog.

By Caroline Arnold. Illus. by Rachell Sumpter

Apr. 2022. 40p. Cameron Kids, $18.99 (9781951836375). PreS–Gr. 3

 

In 1902, Juliet Fish Nichols became the lighthouse keeper on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. Written in first person from her point of view, this fictional narrative describes the actual woman’s solitary life, spent reading, writing reports in the log book, and maintaining the lamp that guided boats at night, as well as the machine that rang a heavy bell, warning sailors away from the island when fog hid it from view. Early one morning, her bed thrashed “like a boat in a storm.” The 1906 earthquake had struck San Francisco. Months later, when the bay was crowded with ships, the bell-ringing machine broke down. Grabbing the mallet, she struck the bell twice every 15 seconds throughout the night, saying, “The fog is fierce, but so am I.” Though not inherently dramatic, the story is well told and interesting. Sumpter contributes illustrations portraying a confident young woman within colorful surroundings including the lighthouse, her hillside garden, and the sun setting over the bay. An attractive picture book celebrating a lighthouse keeper's dedication to her work.

 

Booklist Advance Review of BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6

I am delighted with this very positive review of my new book, Butterflies in Room 6, published by Booklist, the journal of the American Library Association. The official publication date of the book is March 12, 2019. Look for it in your bookstore!

Butterflies in Room 6
By Caroline Arnold. Illus. by the author
Mar. 2019. 40p. Charlesbridge, $16.99 (9781580898942). PreS–Gr. 3. 638

In this attractive science book, writer and photographer Arnold presents the life cycle of a butterfly as observed in a Los Angeles kindergarten classroom. The teacher brings tiny painted lady butterfly eggs to school and places them in a box with food. As the eggs hatch, the caterpillars crawl, eat, and climb to the top of their containers, where they enter the pupal stage within chrysalises. Transferred to a large netwalled enclosure, they begin to emerge eight days later as butterflies. Outdoors, each one crawls onto a child’s finger, rests, and then flies away. Arnold comments on each step of caring for the animals, as well as each stage of their life cycle. Along the way, she provides just enough information and detail for young children who want to know more. It’s enlightening to observe the butterflies' stages of life in the clear, color photos, but it’s also a pleasure to see the children’s reactions: curiosity, caution, rapt attention, surprise, excitement, and joy. An appended page answers pertinent questions. An amiable, eye-opening introduction to metamorphosis.
— Carolyn Phelan

Booklist Review of HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6

My new book HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6 will be published next week on January 10th and has already received a number of very positive advance reviews.The following review appeared in Booklist, December 1, 2016

Readers are in for a treat as they join Mrs. Best and her kindergarten class for their egg-hatching project, aka the most adorable class project ever. Mrs. Best has brought a variety of chicken eggs–brown, white, speckled–from her backyard coop to an incubator in her classroom in order to teach her students about how chicks grow. The informative text is augmented by copious photo illustrations, including a diagram of the different parts of an egg, a demonstration of candling (placing a fertilized egg over a light to see inside it) and eventually the fluffy chicks themselves. The book documents how Mrs. Best’s diverse class counts down the 21 days until the eggs hatch, the hatching process, and the first month of the chicks’ lives, detailing their care and growth, and nesting quick facts in egg-shaped ovals throughout. Readers will come away with a good understanding of chickens origins and will likely want to rush off to hatch an egg of their own, but Arnold wisely cautions that chickens do not make good pets. (Julia Smith)

Review of LIVING FOSSILS in Booklist

Title page of Living Fossils: Clues to the Past (Charlesbridge, 2016)

I was pleased to receive this very nice review of LIVING FOSSILS: Clues to the Past in the January 1 and 15 issue of Booklist.

The discovery of a living coelacanth, a fish previously known only from 65-million year-old fossils, leads off this introduction in “living fossils,” current animal species that researchers can study to learn about their prehistoric ancestors. Through the book, Arnold’s writing is concise, descriptive, and informative. Illustrated with large nicely composed acrylic paintings that show the creatures within their natural habitats, the text presents five additional species: the horseshoe crab, dragonfly, tuatara, chambered nautilus, and Hula painted frog. The first spread in each four-page section features the animal in prehistoric times, while the second discussed the animal as it is today. This now-and-then structure works well to tell the two-part story of each organism. Back matter includes a time line, more detailed information on species, and a note clarifying that though the ancient and modern animals may share the same name and basic appearance, they did evolve and are not identical. An intriguing look at animals, past and present, and a fine addition to the science shelves.  Carolyn Phelan, Booklist, January 1 and 15, 2016