Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

Behind the Books: Woo-hoo!

For two whole months,
I had to keep a very big secret. I’m not good at keeping secrets.

Ask my husband. Ask
my brother. Ask my mom. It’s never too hard to get me to spill my guts. In
fact, when I was little and I did something wrong, I told on myself. Really.

So imagine having to
keep a secret from all my friends who are writers and teachers and librarians.
It was NOT easy.

But finally, I can
tell THE WORLD.

Last Saturday, my
book A Place for Bats was given the 2012
Correll Book Award for Excellence in Early Childhood
Informational Text at a ceremony at the University of
Maine in Orono. Woo-hoo!

It takes a village to
make a book. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped bring this one to life—illustrator
Higgins Bond, editor Vicky Holifield, and art director Loraine Joyner were in
the trenches with me. I also need to thank my husband who helped me research
this book when he was temporarily out of work in 2008. And when Peachtree sent
me three cover possibilities, we all listened and nodded as he explained why
the cover we all see now was the best choice.

There have been five
other books in the A Place for series, and some of them have received honors of
their own. But I wasn’t so sure how this title would be received. After all,
bats aren’t as beautiful as butterflies or as endearing as frogs. I’m so
pleased to see that this book is getting out there and making a difference.

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