Q&A with David King Dunaway

  

 

 

David King Dunaway is the author of the new book A Four-Eyed World: How Glasses Changed the Way We See. His other books include How Can I Keep from Singing?. He is a professor of English at the Universities of New Mexico and São Paulo, Brazil, and he lives in Los Ranchos, New Mexico. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write A Four-Eyed World?

 

A: I’m extremely near-sighted, someone who couldn’t cross the street without glasses. So after writing biographies of Pete Seeger and Aldous Huxley, and Southwestern writers including Barbara Kingsolver, I decided it was time to see if I could apply those techniques to a device, the one many of us keep closest, either on our nose or in our pocket, the first thing touched in the morning and the last at night, eye glasses.

 

This meant looking into everything a biographer would: the history of eyeglasses and how they developed; experiences with that device, good and bad; its reception, positive and negative; its past and its future.

 

Q: How have people’s perceptions of glasses changed over the centuries?

 

A: People’s perceptions of glasses have evolved since they were invented nearly 750 years ago.

 

In the beginning, glasses were viewed by the medieval church as the work of the Devil. We should accept whatever eyes God gave us, the Church said. Trying to correct them was defying God’s will. So pretty much as soon as someone invented a way to hang lenses on a face, someone else denounced the idea.

 

Later, eye doctors themselves resisted prescribing them: “It’s obviously better to have two eyes than four.” So, it was peddlers who sold glasses, depending on the age of the buyer.

 

But most relevant today is the resistance to wearing glasses among women and girls.

 

They were told it made them unattractive and might drive away suitors. That it revealed their aging. That it marred their facial looks, especially if the lenses were thick. As humorist Dorothy Parker wrote, “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.”

 

Earlier, a newspaper commented that for women, wearing glasses was “a bit like brandishing your wooden leg in public.” Even today, women (and men) are likely to tear them off for selfies.

 

Is this over? Until three years ago in Japan, women would be fired for wearing glasses to work: “they don’t go well with a Kimono,” one executive said. Most importantly, the slights wearers have born could ultimately be internalized and change the way people view themselves.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: I researched from the general to the specific, from encyclopedia articles and overviews to detailed historical documents. I have a foot-thick file on the history and development of eyeglasses; and another, of similar length, on what research shows about how people rate those wearing glasses, and how wearers view their own pairs.

 

What surprised me was the seriousness and persistence of glasses-shaming. Teenagers have killed themselves after too much teasing and bullying—including as recently as 2024 in Indiana.

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: The major impact of writing this book was the experience I undertook alongside it—putting aside my glasses for a week to understand a bit of how people managed before glasses, and to test what wearing glasses means by seeing on my own, without them.

 

I had the expected results: accidents small and large, injuries, and isolation (both visual and personal). This was a major challenge leading to injuries and embarrassments but ultimately worthwhile, as I discovered how important lenses were to me and to the world.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: With a colleague at the University of New Mexico, I have just finished the first oral history of arguably the world’s most famous road, Route 66. This is bouncing around from my agent, Peter Rubie at Fineprint Literary in NYC.

 

I have also just finished the longest radio documentary on Route 66, to be released this summer on public radio nationally: Across the Tracks: A Route 66 Story (Route66.unm.edu).

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope to persuade people to take a second look at their glasses and consider how wearing them may have shaped their world, giving them opportunities but also challenges. I want to share with people how the best pairs are made, why glasses cost so much, and what to look for.

 

Glasses are a much bigger part of our lives than many of us realize, for we tend to overlook them.

 

I also see wearers as part of a community which goes beyond not losing them and keeping them clean. To me, we are “glassers,” a name much better than “Four-Eyes.” Tell us your own stories of wearing them at https://www.facebook.com/weareglassers/ and find the book at afoureyedworld.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Gesche Würfel

  

 

 

Gesche Würfel is the author of the book The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall. She was born in Germany and lives in New York.

 

Q: What inspired you to create The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall?

 

A: In 1987, when I was a child, I traveled with my family to visit my parents' friends in West Berlin. Naturally, we went to see the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which left a lasting impression on me. As a child, I was particularly overwhelmed by its size and presence.

 

I often wondered why the Wall was constructed to divide a city, what it was like to live in West Berlin surrounded by the Wall, and what was happening behind it in East Berlin. 

 

While my family had no relatives in the GDR (German Democratic Republic--also known as East Germany), one of my school friends did. She shared many stories about her family visits and brought back magazines and candy from East Berlin, which I eagerly listened to. 

 

I learned about the citizens of the GDR breaching the Berlin Wall on TV at home in Bremerhaven on November 9, 1989. This moment is one of the most memorable events of my life, and I tear up every time I hear about it. The following day, I would have loved to catch the train to Berlin, but that wasn't possible since I was only 13. 

 

In the summer of 1990, I traveled with my family to Wismar and Schwerin, my first and last trip to the GDR since it would officially end on October 3, 1990, when reunification occurred. 

 

When I turned 16, I began making annual trips with a friend to visit her uncle in Berlin, and I have been fascinated by the city ever since my first visit in 1987. In the years that followed, I made many more trips to the so-called new federal states and to Central and Eastern Europe. 

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: To spend the year in Berlin, I had to organize my own funding, which I did during the pandemic, in fall 2020. After many socially distanced walks and intense conversations with two former colleagues from UNC Chapel Hill, I wrote an extensive research proposal outlining the project design.

 

I received fellowships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany (Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung) in the spring of 2021 to support the creation of my project.

 

The goal of it was to explore Germany’s reunification post-1990. Germany has one political and economic system, but new divisions and hostilities have emerged during reunification. I wanted to probe those divisions with photography and guided interviews by investigating the Berlin Wall Trail.

 

The focus was on architecture, nature, and people that allowed me to locate spaces where the remnants of the Wall are still present, spaces where the physical division of the Wall has ceased to exist, and spaces where the mental construct of the Wall persists.

 

I divided my project into three different parts:

 

For the first part, a conceptual approach, I cycled along the Berlin Wall Trail, starting from and ending at the Brandenburg Gate. The Berlin Wall Trail extends around former West Berlin and is 160 kilometers (99 miles) long.

 

I stopped every 2.8 kilometers (1.7 mi.)—in a nod to the 28-year history of the Wall—and photographically recorded those places where the divided city used to be a reality. I took six photos at each location (front, back, left, right, sky, and ground) and combined them later on in Photoshop to create 61 composites.

 

Since I didn’t grow up in Berlin, it was important to me to talk to people who experienced the construction of the Wall and/or have lived with it.

 

Therefore, I interviewed and portrayed 28 Berlin and Brandenburg residents about their personal recollections of the Wall and German reunification. Half of the interviewees were born in the former GDR, the other half in the former FRG (Federal Republic of Germany - also known as West Germany), in Turkey, and in the U.S.

 

Some of the interviewees I met during my bicycle tours along the Berlin Wall Trail or at events related to the Wall; some I reached out to in writing; some were former guest workers, others former political prisoners.

 

I interviewed a resident advisor for Vietnamese contract workers, representatives from the cultural and religious sector, the initiator of the Berlin Wall Trail and staff from memorial sites. To connect with the latter was a requirement of my fellowship from the Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung.

 

Lastly, I invited visitors of my exhibition “The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall” at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in spring 2022 to participate. For the interviews, I asked the interviewees to bring along objects or photos relating to the Berlin Wall or reunification. Through these conversations, I trace the history of reunification.

 

To add historical perspective, I gathered materials from the Stasi Records Archives, the East German secret police. From 134 panoramic images, I cut out the front and hinterland walls, the death strip, and collaged the remaining parts to envision new landscapes without the Wall.

 

The 23 collages are composed according to different criteria, such as location or formal details. In other collages, I juxtaposed the countryside with the cityscape.

 

One thing that struck me the most was that the migrant perspective of the former guest (West Berlin/FRG) and contract workers (East Berlin/GDR) has only recently started to be considered in the discourse surrounding remembrance.

 

The workers had to navigate many uncertainties, not knowing whether they had the right to stay and work or whether they had to return home. Many of them were pushed out of the labor market.

 

Additionally, politicians tightened immigration laws. Migrants faced a tremendous amount of racism, and there were mounting numbers of murders in the 1990s.

 

While significant progress has been made in many areas since 1990, differences between East and West continue to exist in areas such as economic strength, wages, and pensions. Although the physical division of the Wall no longer exists, the Wall as a mental construct persists, even 36 years after reunification.

 

Q: What do you see as some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about the Berlin Wall?

 

A: When most people think of the Berlin Wall, they usually picture the 26.8-mile-long inner-city Wall with concrete slabs facing former West Berlin. However, two-thirds of the Wall extended through suburban areas, along rivers, lakes, parks, and through forests.

 

Most people also don't consider that the Wall consisted of concrete slabs on the Western side (Vorderlandmauer), the hinterland or inner Wall (Hinterlandmauer) on the Eastern side, and the death strip in between that was up to 328 ft wide.

 

The latter comprised, among others, the GDR troops' border patrol road (Kolonnenweg), 302 observation towers, trip wires, steel spikes set in concrete, and dog runs. The Berlin Wall Trail that I cycled along for my project follows the GDR troops' patrol road and the West Berlin customs route.

 

Most of the images we have seen of the Berlin Wall were taken from the Western side. GDR citizens were not allowed to photograph the Wall, or otherwise, they would have faced harsh penalties. Therefore, only very few images of the Wall taken by GDR citizens exist.

 

The primary source of photographs of the Eastern side of the Wall is the Stasi, the East German intelligence service and secret police, which documented every inch of it. They took photos to control and monitor the border fortifications and to observe the Western side.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall focuses on encounters and exchange. It encourages listening, engaging with strangers and foreigners, and forming new or different perceptions of a person. This book aims to inspire people to approach others with openness and curiosity.

 

Especially now—when many countries, including Germany, are turning inward, isolating themselves, and rejecting the concept of “the other” amid rising right-wing radicalism, the belittlement of individuals whose families come from other places, and threats to democracy—it is crucial to remain human.

 

Moreover, I want readers to understand that German reunification is an ongoing process, one that will take many more years to come.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have just started a new project addressing the impacts of climate change on Lower Manhattan, but I can’t reveal any details yet.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

March 7

 

Photo by Laurie Fletcher

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
March 7, 1956: Andrea Levy born.

Q&A with Dan Simon

  

 

 

Dan Simon is the author of the new novel Ashland. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Seven Stories Press, and he lives in New York and New Hampshire. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Ashland, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: The story I wanted to tell, the question I was trying to answer, has to do with someone growing up without a father. It is very common today for a child to grow up with their father and not to know him.

 

A close relationship with one's father is quite rare, I think, in part because so many men lead lives and do work other than what they might have chosen if it were up to them. So they are not exactly open books, not even to their children. But here it is more extreme, a question of a child, a daughter, who grows up without knowing her father at all.

 

I'm always writing from what I know, from what I see, from people I know. So my approach to writing is quite a lot like Carolyn's approach to writing inside Ashland.

 

The characters are built out of my observations, things I experienced, people I knew in real life, especially as a child, growing up spending significant parts of every year in and around this town. I think I was in awe of these surroundings and the people that inhabited them.

 

Q: The author Andrew Solomon compared the book to the classic writers Thornton Wilder and William Faulkner--what do you think of that assessment?

 

A: I like it a lot in both cases. Here's why: what interests me most is American literature. How are each of us going to come to have a relationship with this country of ours at this moment in our history unless we have a literature that shows us to ourselves as we are now?

 

You will never get that from a news segment, or 10,000 news segments, and you aren't going to get it, not at this moment, from a work in translation either because the history is so different elsewhere, and American history so particular. Only a new American literature will give us that.

 

To me Thornton Wilder and William Faulkner are both quintessentially American writers. And of course, Our Town takes place in New Hampshire! I believe his town—is it not called Grover's Corner?—is completely imaginary, whereas my town, Ashland, is completely real.

 

And in the life of the imagination with which I am trying to capture it, I am not trying to add color or drama, I am using all the skill and heart I have in the very ambitious attempt to describe it just as it is, just as I see it, in relation to its own history, its past and future, and its inhabitants.

 

But I do think it is time for a new contemporary American literature to emerge and I hope I can be part of that, as a writer and also as a publisher.

 

Q: As you mentioned, the novel is set in New Hampshire--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: Extremely important. The ship—the story—would have drifted off and gotten lost completely were it not for being anchored to the place in which it is situated. And this is true for the individual characters too. Each of them.

 

Ashland is a novel of survival, a question mark then. Will these people, and Carolyn especially, survive? If they do it will be in large part thanks to some nourishment they are able to draw from their surroundings.

 

And this is true in real life; people in New Hampshire have a knack for drawing a kind of strength from their surroundings, in the same way that maple syrup is drawn from the sugar maple trees.

 

And as you know from reading the book, there is simply a lot of description of the land and the trees and the seasons, and virtually no physical descriptions of any of the people in the book, so in some strange way the natural landscape that is being described acts almost like the chorus in a Greek drama, a kind of grounding presence.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I suppose yes, I knew it would begin and end with Carolyn, but whether she would still be alive in the end, no, that I did not know until I was done. I did not know how everything that happens would impact her survival.

 

You know from the minute you meet her at the beginning of the book that she is not going to play anything safe, that she is not going to protect herself well. In a sense, she cares about everything so much and at the same time is almost indifferent to her own survival. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Thanks for asking, Deborah. I completed the next novel. It is sitting on my editor's desk and he's told me he will read it the week after next.

 

I don't want to assume anything, but I am hopeful that he will like it and will want to publish it because, well, he has been such a believer in Ashland, and to me the next book goes deeper and is also trimmer and, to me, better, as much as I do love Ashland of course.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Well, perhaps this. As much as Carolyn would tell you this book belongs to her as the main character, I would say it's a bit more complicated than that. Each of the six characters really is equally important.

 

Someone recently described Ashland as a choral work and I like that for two reasons, both because of the allusion to a musical form, which sits well with this novel, and then also because a chorus has its own collective voice and I'd like to think that's true of Ashland as well.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Robin Keuneke

  

 

 

Robin Keuneke is the author of the new book The Iberian Table: Healthy Cooking Secrets from the Land of Longevity. Her other books include Total Breast Health. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Iberian Table?

 

A: The Iberian Table conveys real excitement in discovering a way to eat that I would want to remain close to for the rest of my life. 

 

I wrote the book I yearned to read. Bloomberg’s 2019 Healthiest Country Index and Money UK’s 2021 index confirm that Spain is ranked number one in terms of longevity.  The Catalan Maria Branyas died last year at 117; Branyas was the oldest woman in the world and lived in The Iberian Table region. 

 

Also, Spanish cooking and recipes brim with the freshest and most inventive flavors I have encountered, and I have traveled widely.  

 

Though all of Spain and Portugal is La Buena Mesa, Northern Spain intrigues me most. I had no idea this realization would become the subject of a book until I began researching the update to my first book, Total Breast Health, which I put aside to write The Iberian Table.

 

When I read about the long-lived people in the North (including Andorra), in a 2016 report published in The British Medical Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, regarding work led by Dr. Ana Ribeiro at the University of Porto, I could not sit to finish this book.

 

Dr. Ribeiro’s study identifies the Mediterranean dietary patterns of eating, the way Galicians eat on the Atlantic in North West Spain, the Iberian Table region. Galicia is finally being given Blue Zone status.  

 

Q: What makes the Spanish Mediterranean Diet so healthful?

 

A: Consider sofrito. It was invented in Catalonia during medieval times, and so tasty it spread throughout Spain. Sofrito is the basis for all kinds of recipes, from fish dishes to meat stews, and more. Sofrito is so important that I wrote a whole chapter about it for The Iberian Table.

 

Sofrito is made from sautéing onions, garlic, and tomato in olive oil, gently for a long time. Anti-cancer compounds galore! People think the Spanish eat a lot of meat and jamón, but if you are a Veg Head, you will love Spain!

 

Grains vary in Spain, depending upon the region. (MANY types of rice are grown in the Ebro Delta in Catalonia, several specialized rice varieties but six main types: Arròs del Delta de l'Ebre including Bahía, Bomba, Fonsa, Montsianell, Sènia, and Tebre, with Bahía, Sènia, and Bomba being the most common. I have cooked with each variety.) Valenician rice dishes are endless.

 

The Spanish have many noodle dishes, too, some made with ink from squid which honestly is so savory once one tastes it... nothing else compares.

 

Breads are taken to a remarkable level in Spain. Grains are grown naturally and  milled in old-school ways.

 

Regarding vegetables...  The Spanish appreciate vegetables profoundly. Grilled calcóts (a type of small leek, large scallion) are so celebrated in Catalonia that outdoor spring parties are held under blossoming almond trees, to grill them, and serve with a dipping sauce of crushed almonds or hazelnuts and roasted red pepper, with garlic and olive oil.

 

There are Pintxos bars in the Basque Country that serve tapas entirely made from mushrooms! Nowhere, except Japan will one find plant foods so understood.

 

And the cheese in Spain! Such variety and made so simply. Nothing like it. The probiotics found in many cheeses of Spain are living cultures with shielding properties. Consider Manchego: As a traditional, aged cheese, Manchego often contains a complex, live microbiota. Gut microbiome protects from every illness.

 

But also,  eating slowly, sharing meals, and enjoying food in moderation are just as important as what’s on the plate. That holistic approach is a big part of why Spain’s Mediterranean Diet is consistently linked to cardiovascular health and longevity.

 

Q: Of the many recipes you include in the book, do you have any particular favorites?

 

A: It’s challenging. The classic pan con tomate is endlessly versatile and proves that great bread, ripe tomatoes, and good olive oil can be more luxurious than any elaborate dish.

 

Basque cooking is so inventive and simple. Consider one dish: sautéed mushrooms topped with egg yolk sauce. The trick is to leave the yolk runny. 

 

I recommend a boldly flavored salmon salad, made with smoky Spanish Paprika, Pimentón. Pimentón is much higher in antioxidants than regular paprika. Michelin Star chefs love Pimentón. Spain always leads in culinary trends.   

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: Writing and developing recipes for The Iberian Table changed the way I approach everyday cooking. It reinforced the idea that healthful eating/cooking is deeply tasty and rooted in prevention and longevity.

 

My hope is that readers come away feeling empowered to cook more intuitively, to shop seasonally, and to slow down and savor meals. Ultimately, I hope that The Iberian Table will inspire people to see food not just as nourishment, but as a way to connect with community, and well-being.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Thanks for asking. A glimpse of my fourth book, a collection of short stories about Spain focusing on culinary: “My psyche, my dreams and my everyday life remain a kind of village. There is a feeding of one to the other. Imagine historical stone buildings of several stories with balconies: Volcanic mountains and water… Perhaps a bay can be glimpsed behind the buildings. Clouds might be overhead… or a night scene with a blanket of stars! At the center of this interlocked protea, one finds a fountain. The design is simple, but romantic. In geometric splendor everything points towards this fountain. Spain is my fountain. I drink from her bubbling waters to refresh my hungry heart. When life feels too complex to write - or the sky too dark – I pick up a history book on Spain, or a book of legends. Or recipes. Or Spanish painters. Or poets! Something within me changes … I am reinvigorated."

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: According to the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, Spain surpasses other Mediterranean nations like Italy (2nd) due to its superior life expectancy, which is projected to be the highest in the world by 2040. 

 

The person who put The Med Diet on the map so to speak, Ancel Keys, did not highlight or recommend olive oil in his early work and books like Eat Well and Stay Well. During the 1950s-'60s, the scientific focus was on replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated vegetable oils (like corn oil), not olive oil. 

 

Keys’ focus was reduction of animal fat, not promoting specific plant oils. Keys' recommendations fueled the "low-fat" movement, which interpreted "healthy" as eating no fat at all, rather than replacing animal fats with olive oil.

 

In recent years, we have become to appreciate the benefits of animal fat including tallow, and as the BBC points out, pork fat is known to be "the 8th healthiest food in the world." I'm not advocating for pork fat, but I do eat a paper-thin slice of natural Serrano ham on occasion with toasty pan con tomate.  

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

March 6

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
March 6, 1927: Gabriel García Márquez born.

Q&A with Melissa Stewart and Sarah S. Brannen

  

 

 

Melissa Stewart and Sarah S. Brannen are the creators of the new children's picture book Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal. Stewart's many other books include A Place for Butterflies. Brannen's many other books include Uncle Bobby's Wedding. They both live in Massachusetts. 

 

Q: What inspired you to create Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal, and why did you choose those two butterflies as the focus of the book?

MS: During school visits featuring my 2006 book A Place for Butterflies, I noticed that many students raise monarchs and assume that all butterfly species have similar lives and habitats. But butterflies are an incredibly diverse group of insects.

 

In 2008, I began writing a book called Two Butterflies, Two Lives to help kids understand the variety of foods butterflies eat, the different habitats they call home, and the many ways they survive winter weather. Each butterfly’s unique behaviors help it survive—and thrive! 

 

I chose to feature monarchs and mourning cloaks because they’re both common throughout North America, and they’re about the same size. But their lives couldn’t be more different.

 

Melissa Stewart

Monarchs live in fields, sip flower nectar, and migrate to warmer places in winter. Their bright colors let predators know that they’re poisonous. But mourning cloaks live in forests, guzzle tree sap, and hibernate in their northern home. They hide from predators by blending in with their surroundings.

 

Comparing these two species really makes the range of butterfly lives apparent.

 

Q: How did you collaborate on the book, and were the illustrations created along with the text, or did one come before the other?

SB: Melissa got in touch with me in 2022 or 2023 and we met for a walk to talk about her idea. She asked whether I would want to submit the book with her, and I was enthusiastic about the idea. I had seen an older draft of the book and she sent me her current draft. I took some time to think about what kind of concept might bring her poems to life.

 

I thought of several different possibilities but I was particularly taken with the idea of showing our process and including earlier drafts of the poems in some way, along with sketches. It seemed like presenting the book as a nature journal would do that, as well as incorporating the nature journal concept.

Sarah S. Brannen

We met again and I showed Melissa some rough sketches, but mostly I talked through the concept.

 

I did some more developed sketches and a piece of possible finished art to submit to the editor. Once the book was under contract it proceeded more like picture books usually do; I did rounds of sketches and got feedback from Melissa, the editor, and the art director. As the art develops it’s always shared with the team.

 

Along the way, I actually wrote some of the notes in the book; some of them were already in Melissa’s text and I added more after I raised caterpillars and observed their life cycle in detail. To bring those to life, I created a font from my own handwriting.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

MS: As a scientist and nature lover, I knew a lot about these two butterflies before I began writing the book, but I welcomed the opportunity to learn more. I observed the butterflies and caterpillars of both butterflies in natural areas in Massachusetts and Maine, and I read everything I could find about them.

 

Because the main text consists of short poems, initially, there was a TON of information that I had to leave out. But when our editor accepted the book, she suggested adding A LOT of backmatter—12 pages. That allowed us to include lots of expository explanations accompanied by even more art. It was a dream come true for both of us.

 

One surprising fact that I learned (shown in Sarah’s art below) is that mourning cloak butterflies sometimes play dead, so that predators won’t eat them.

SB: As I was working on the sketches, I saw a monarch laying eggs right outside my window. I collected the eggs and raised the caterpillars, and observed them closely from that first moment until the adults emerged and flew away. I was able to record video of the caterpillars molting and pupating and the adults emerging. I also went out and collected plant samples for most of the plants in the book, like black willows.

 

In February 2024, there was a night when the temperature dropped to 15 below 0˚ F. Although I have not had this confirmed, my guess is that it may have killed a lot of the mourning cloak butterflies that had been hibernating in this area.

 

Whatever happened, I did not see a single one the whole year I was researching and illustrating the book, so I relied on photos and videos for reference for the mourning cloak. An Audubon naturalist shared some of her photos with me. Also, I had seen many, many mourning cloak butterflies and caterpillars previously, which helped. I have a good memory for color and texture.

 

Q: The School Library Journal review of the book says, “Is this a poetry book packed full of information, or a nonfiction study with a sprinkling of poetic joy? . . . when found by the right readers, it will be pored over and cherished.” What do you think of that description?

MS: Thank you, SLJ! The thought of children cherishing our book is thrilling. As to the reviewer’s question, I say, “Yes and yes! It’s both.” Our hope is that the book will excite a wide range of readers because there are many different ways to experience and enjoy these two special butterflies.”

SB: “Poetic joy” sounds exactly like what I was going for. I hope that the book will inspire children – and adults! - to start and continue their own nature journals. My own sketchbooks have given me so much joy throughout my life.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

MS: In July—during Shark Week—my next book, Sharks in Kansas: The Ancient Sea inthe Middle of America, will enter the world. Set 180 million years ago, it tells the story of the Western Interior Seaway—an ocean that once divided the North American continent in two.

 

For reasons scientists don’t understand (yet), the number of top predators was extremely high in this waterway compared to most other environments on Earth. There were more than a dozen different shark species as well as turtles the size of a car, and giant reptiles called mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. I think lots of kids (and adults) are going to be surprised by this book!

SB: I wrote and illustrated a book called Lolly on the Ice, about an anxious little figure skater. It was just published a few weeks ago, so I have been busy visiting bookstores and going to conferences. I’m working on a couple of new picture books and a middle grade novel, but it’s too soon to talk about them.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

SB: I kept a real butterfly journal the whole time I was raising the caterpillars and filled it with my notes, photos, and sketches. If you want to see it, Melissa and I will both be bringing it to bookstores and conferences, so keep an eye out! 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb