Of Books and Boys and Other Stuff

There were 4 things about Pamela Turner’s The Frog Scientist that made me want to interview her about her book. 1) I loved how the whole story is an example of the scientific process in action. 2) It’s is a great example of how nonfiction books can be used with different reading abilities–Mr. E (10) read it straight through; Colonel Mustard (7) gleaned tons just from the captions; I poured over the photos. 3) The multicultural cast of scientists was a definite plus. And #4? Well, did you notice how the book’s about frogs? Who can resist?

I’m not the only one excited about The Frog Scientist–it’s garnered starred reviews in The Horn Book, Booklist, The Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books, and School Library Journal. Whew!

But enough about all that; here’s what Pamela says about her book, her writing and herself:

Tell us about your book.

In THE FROG SCIENTIST, biologist Tyrone Hayes is researching the links between declining frog populations and pesticide use. He loved catching frogs when he was younger, and he tells kids, “Whatever you want to do, stick with it!” He’s an amazing guy. I wrote about Tyrone’s life, about the dangers frogs are facing, and I describe one of Tyrone’s experiments all the way from start to finish.

How did you get the idea for The Frog Scientist?

I saw an article about Tyrone in the San Francisco Chronicle. He’d just published a scientific paper showing that if you raised tadpoles in water contaminated with the most widely-used pesticide in the U.S., atrazine, many of the male frogs grew eggs instead of sperm in their testes. And he found this effect at levels of atrazine contamination ONE-THIRTIETH (1/30) of the levels allowed in our drinking water by the EPA. The article in the Chronicle also noted that Tyrone nurtured a very diverse group of young people in his laboratory. My editor at Houghton Mifflin loved the idea of writing about Tryone and his work, and so I went to Berkeley to meet him. Tyrone is such a warm, funny, smart guy with such a great personal story that I knew he would be a wonderful subject for a “Scientist in the Field” book.

If you were a scientist, what kind would you like to be? Why?

I really love scuba diving, so I think I would want to be a marine biologist.

How long does it take you to write a book? Where do you like to write? What time of day? (Or anything else you want to add about your process.)

That’s always a difficult question to answer because I work on more than one project at a time, and often the writing part is less time-consuming than the research and putting all the photos together. For a book like THE FROG SCIENTIST, I worked on it over the course of two years. I write at home, usually at a computer set up in our family room, and usually during the day when my husband is at work and our youngest is off at school. I like to compose at the computer but I like to do final edits on a hardcopy. Go figure.

What were you like as a kid?

I was a big animal lover (still am) and I loved to read (still do).

Did you like school?

Yes–I was a good student. I read well above grade level and I was fond of math. I will admit that when I took Calculus in college I was appalled–”This stuff is HARD! I feel stupid!”

So…readers want to know….what’s the grossest or most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you as a kid?

One time I was outside running toward a school building (we were playing some game) and I fell just before I got to the wall and scraped my scalp down the stucco. So I ended up with a big, gross, bloody stripe on the top of my head, sort of a reverse Mohawk, which took forever to heal. Ick!

If you weren’t an author/illustrator, what would you be? Why?

Before I started writing for children, I worked in international public health. So I would probably be doing that, with a focus on women’s and children’s health.

What’s one thing you’d love to learn to do?

A few years ago I started studying kendo (Japanese swordfighting). I’d like to be better, but I’m slow and uncoordinated. I love it, though. And it’s OK to do something you love even if you’re never going to be great at it.

And the coolest place you’ve ever been?

Above water: the Serengeti in Tanzania. It’s a vision of what the world looked like before we plowed it and paved it. Below water: Palau, in the western Pacific. Beautiful reefs still teeming with sharks and manta rays, a vision of what the sea looked like before we overfished it.

THE SNAKE SCIENTIST or THE TARANTULA SCIENTIST by Sy Montgomery.

What’s next?

Just out: PROWLING THE SEAS: EXPLORING THE WORLD OF OCEAN PREDATORS, which tells the story of a leatherback sea turtle, white shark, bluefin tuna, and a pair of seabirds given high-tech tags by scientists who are following their travels. And PROJECT SEAHORSE, coming in August 2010. I went to the Philippines with the world’s expert on seahorses and wrote about what she is doing to save seahorses and the coral reefs where they live.

What do you wish we’d asked, but didn’t?

“How did writing THE FROG SCIENTIST change you?”

#1: I bought a White’s tree frog and named her Dumpy. There’s a photo of a White’s tree frog on THE FROG SCIENTIST’s title page, and I think it’s the cutest frog picture I’ve ever seen. So now I have my own adorable frog, which my kids think is a very strange pet. #2: I bought a Brita water filter and now I filter all our drinking water to keep the pesticides out. #3: When I bought a green Prius car I noticed it looked vaguely like a hunched-over frog, so I got a personalized license plate that says “Riibiit”. Yet another way of embarrassing my children.

Fast Facts about Pamela Turner

Age: 52

Family: Husband Rob (a lawyer), son Travis, 22, just out of college and looking for a job; daughter Kelsey, 20, a junior at Wesleyan University; and Connor, 17, a high school junior.

Home: Oakland, California

Other Books:
HACHIKO: THE TRUE STORY OF A LOYAL DOG
GORILLA DOCTORS: SAVING ENDANGERED GREAT APES
LIFE ON EARTH–AND BEYOND: AN ASTROBIOLOGIST’S QUEST
A LIFE IN THE WILD: GEORGE SCHALLER’S STRUGGLE TO SAVE THE LAST GREAT BEASTS
PROWLING THE SEAS: EXPLORING THE HIDDEN WORLD OF OCEAN PREDATORS

Favorite Superhero: I have to go with Wolverine. Maybe that has something to do with Hugh Jackman.

Favorite Book: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by C.S. Lewis. 

Favorite Sports Team: I guess I have to say Oakland Raiders! 

Pamela’s Website: http://www.pamelasturner.com. And see frog scientist Tyrone Hayes hard at work in the book trailer for The Frog Scientist!

Chris Gall talks about his new picture book, Dinotrux–just named a Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Book for 2009!

Describe your book:

Dinotrux is about an ancient race of primitive trucks that apparently existed millions of years ago. It turns out that they had not yet evolved into the kind, helpful trucks we have today.

How did you get the idea for the Dinotrux?

Dinotrux was inspired by a day stuck in traffic. As I was passing through an area of road construction on the highway outside of town, I watched a great line of heavy earth-movers lumbering in the median, making groaning sounds, and carving out a new road in the dirt. They seemed eerily reminiscent of dinosaurs—and my imagination took over. What if these same earth-moving trucks had ancestors? What if all trucks had primitive ancestors that existed millions of years ago and then somehow evolved into the kind, helpful trucks we have today? What would they have looked like? What would their personalities have been like? And what in the world happened to them?

Did you like dinosaurs or trucks better when you were a kid?

I think I liked trucks better because I knew that some day I might actually own one.  That’s rarely true with dinosaurs.

Which is harder for you, writing or drawing?

Always the writing. Because if the story isn’t just right, all the illustrations in the world aren’t going to help it.

What do you use to make your illustrations?

I have used everything an artist can use—pencils, paint, pastel, watercolor, wood block engraving, and my new favorite tool—my computer.

How do you work?

I work form 7am until 6pm almost every day. Every day is different because it all depends on what phase of a book I am working on at the time. I have a nice studio in my house so I don’t have to go anywhere. That way I can work in my jammies if I want.

What were you like as a kid?

I was usually described as “lacking self-control” on my report card. I was a day-dreamer and a class clown. I was always taking apart electronic devices and sometimes getting them back together again. I was interested in something new every day.   And that hasn’t really changed.

Did you like school? What was your favorite subject? Why?

I loved school and I doubt if I ever missed a day. My favorite subject was science, and later on, art.

What’s the grossest or most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you as a kid?

I was once beaten up by football players for using the word “melancholy” at just the wrong moment.

If you weren’t an author/illustrator, what would you be? Why?

Hmmmm, tough question. Perhaps a mad scientist.  They seem to have lots of adventures. A Pirate is out of the question because I get sea-sick.

What’s one thing you’d love to learn to do?

Play the piano.  I’ve had one in my living room for 10 years and its not going to learn to play itself!

What’s the coolest place you’ve ever been?

A town in Switzerland called Kleine Scheidegg.  It sits high in the alps in the shadow of three great mountains—the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau.

We loved your book! Is there a similar book from a different author that’d you’d recommend for kids who liked yours?

I always liked Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

What’s next?

I am currently working on my next book, Substitute Creacher, due out in spring 2011.

Looking for a non-scary Halloween book to read? Go find Fran Cannon Slayton’s When the Whistle Blows. Each chapter features a different All Hallow’s Eve adventure as Jimmy Cannon grows up in his West Virginian railroad town.

Recently, Fran answered a few questions about her book…

Tell us about your book.  

When the Whistle Blows is a coming of age story about Jimmy Cannon who is growing up in 1940s Appalachia during an era of economic upheaval.   The backbone of his small town is the B&O Railroad, and with the engines switching from steam to diesel technology, Jimmy’s world is changing – and he doesn’t want it to.  Jimmy navigates the tracks of friendship, love, loss, and going head-to-head with his father as he struggles to carve out his own niche in the adult world.  Did I mention the secret society he discovers his father is a part of?  Or the Halloween pranks he engineers?  They’re in there too!

What were you like as a kid? 

I was a tomboy all the way.  Queen of the kickball field!

Did you like school? 

Yes, loved it.

What’s the grossest or most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you as a kid?

I’m having a brain block on this, but when I was 18 my boyfriend (now husband) and I cut off all my hair, shooting for the Annie Lennox look (do you remember, the lead singer in the Eurythmics?)  But my hair didn’t turn out quite as cool as hers.  In fact it looked as if I might have just had head surgery!  One night a few weeks later I was standing outside with my coat wrapped up around me and a man addressed me as “son.”  Doh!

If you weren’t an author/illustrator, what would you be? Why? 

Maybe a professional football player.  But I guess I’m a little too old.

What’s one thing you’d love to learn to do? 

Paint.  Oil and watercolor.

What’s the coolest place you’ve ever been? 

Rowlesburg, WV.  Second place?  Reykjavik, Iceland – very cool geysers!

How did you get the idea for When the Whistle Blows?

Which story (chapter) is your favorite one? Why?

Oh I can’t pick a favorite story!  I love them all! 

How long does it take you to write a book? Where do you like to write?

It took me about 2 1/2 years from start to acceptance to write When the Whistle Blows.  Regarding where I write – I like to change atmospheres often, so sometimes I type away in my office, while other times I’ll go to the family room or out to a local coffee or pastry shop.  The time of day varies too, but mostly it’s during school hours or late at night.  If I didn’t have to keep a schedule I’d write from dinner until 2-3 in the morning and then get up around 11 the next morning.  But real world obligations don’t allow that!

We loved your book! Is there a similar book from a different author that’d you’d recommend for kids who liked yours?

Thank you!  It’s had to compare my own book to the work of others, especially books I admire and are well known!  But some books I’d like to think share some similar elements to When the Whistle Blows are Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, and Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.  Other book reviewers have compared my book to Richard Peck’s A Long Way From Chicago, which I consider to be an incredible compliment!

What’s next? 

I’m currently writing a fantasy about a girl who wants to be a pirate, tentatively titled Ship’s Boy.

Fran’s haiku about When the Whistle Blows!:

The coffin’s dark wood
Draws the boy from the shadows
Into his future

And finally, Fran’s facts on her author card:

Visit Fran Cannon Slayton’s website

Visit Fran Cannon Slayton’s blog