VIRTUAL PANEL: PICTURE BOOKS TO INSPIRE at Books of Wonder, NYC

I was thrilled to participate yesterday in a virtual picture book panel sponsored by Books of Wonder in New York. I loved learning about the other authors new books and about how they get their ideas and their research process. For me, it was a great way to promote my new book KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog! Many thanks to Rosalyn at Books of Wonder for chairing the panel.

The other authors on the panel were MONICA BROWN, JOHN PARRA, SUZANNE SLADE and LISA ROBINSON. If you didn't watch the panel live you can download the video for about a month. (Check out the Books of Wonder website for details.) At the same website you can also order autographed copies of the authors' books!

Top, Rosalyn, Books of Wonder; Caroline Arnold, Lisa Robinson. Bottom, Suzanne Slade, John Parra, Monica Brown

 

Here's the information about the panel from the Books of Wonder website:

 

Heartfelt and inspiring stories from award-winning creators!

A good picture book can mean the world to a young reader! These beautiful picture books are perfect for empowering and encouraging your young readers and listeners - both with their gorgeous art and their powerful stories!

Growing An Artist, by award-winning artist JOHN PARRA - whose work is featured on U.S. postage stamps, in museums around the world, and in our very own NYC subway system - is a gentle, empowering story based on his own childhood experiences helping his dad's landscaping business.

Keeper of the Light, by CAROLINE ARNOLD - award-winning author of over 170 books for young readers - is the inspiring story of Juliet Fish Nichols, the lighthouse keeper who kept the light shining through the fog following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Blast Off! How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America Into Space, by SUZANNE SLADE - whose STEM books for younger readers are routine winners of science-writing awards - tells the story of Mary Sherman Morgan, the first female rocket scientist.

Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People, by award-winning author MONICA BROWN, is a stunning picture book biography of Pablo Neruda, one of the most beloved poets of all time.

The Sweetest Scoop: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Revolution, by LISA ROBINSON, author of critically acclaimed nonfiction for younger readers.

These are the perfect books for any young reader's growing bookshelf! Meet CAROLINE ARNOLD, MONICA BROWN, JOHN PARRA, LISA ROBINSON, and SUZANNE SLADE and celebrate their wonderful, inspiring books!

Saturday, May 7th at 1:00pm via Crowdcast

REVIEW in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL of KEEPER OF THE LIGHT

The following review, by Elissa Cooper, appeared in the April 1, 2022, issue of School Library Journal.

PreS-Gr 2—In a story inspired by real journals, this picture book gives readers a fictional glimpse into the day-to-day activities of a dedicated lighthouse keeper. In 1902, Juliet Fish Nichols began working at Angel Island to guide ships safely to San Francisco. Set in a journal format, descriptive language and hazy illustrations put the readers in her place as she tends to the mundane, everyday chores, while “the fog, my foe,” is a constant concern. Eventually, the story’s pace picks up when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hits, followed months later with the lighthouse’s machinery breaking. Every 15 seconds, through a long night, Juliet must strike the bell to warn ships in the fog. Readers will admire her bravery and steadfastness, but might struggle to stay interested during the story’s slower sections. The specialized focus may also narrow the audience to local readers. There are intriguing tidbits dropped along the way, like how both Nichols and her mother were lighthouse keepers at the same time in different locations, but those are not explained until the back matter.

VERDICT For patient readers with a demonstrated interest in lighthouses or historical fiction.

 

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY Announcement of JULIET'S LIGHTHOUSE

The announcement of my book Juliet's Lighthouse, to be published in the spring of 2022 by Cameron Kids, appeared in this week's issue of Publisher's Weekly. I am excited about the book, which was inspired by a trip to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where I learned about Juliet Nichols, light keeper on the island at the time of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and her courageous ringing of the fog bell by hand during two long foggy nights after the mechanism of the bell machine failed. The book will be illustrated by Rachell Sumpter.

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: Where Do Book Ideas Come From?

I never know where the idea for my next book is going to come from. In this case, it was a chance encounter as I browsed a volume of my encyclopedia.

I saw the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco for the first time more than fifty years ago, when I helped my parents move from their home in Minneapolis to Marin County in Northern California. The bridge's enormous orange towers and soaring cables suspended over the deep water of the channel below made a big impression on me–it was both a thing of beauty and a triumph of engineering. My fascination with the bridge grew as I made regular visits to my parents.
In 1985, nearly twenty-five years after my first acquaintance with the bridge I was at home in Los Angeles working on a new book. While I was looking up a fact for that book in the “G” volume of the encyclopedia, I happened upon an article about the Golden Gate Bridge. I started reading and discovered that the construction of the bridge had been completed in 1937. I realized that in two years the bridge would be turning fifty, and most likely there would be a big celebration. It was the perfect time to write a book about the bridge. So I did. That book, THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, was published by Franklin Watts in 1986, just in time to go into school and public libraries so kids could learn about the famous bridge that connects San Francisco to Marin County and northern California.The book is now long out of print, but may be in some libraries.

The Golden Gate Bridge celebrated another milestone, its 75th birthday, in 2012. You can read about it at my travel blog, The Intrepid Tourist. In just eighteen more years, the bridge will be 100!