My picture book Camilla and the Big Change releases TODAY! Happy Book Birthday to everyone's favorite wild boar on her second adventure, with her friend Parsley the porcupine.
What’s it about? Set in spring, beavers have arrived in Camilla’s forest, ready to turn the creek into a beaver pond. Yikes! It’s too much change for Camilla, even as she learns how helpful a beaver pond will be for the forest. When her cartographic skills can help in the pond construction, she slowly comes to terms with the change and embraces her new friends.
Where can I find it? Magination Press offers free US shipping: https://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/camilla-big-change You can also order it from your favorite local bookstore, or ask your public library to purchase a copy.
Book themes: Coping with change, beavers & ecosystems, and of course spatial thinking! Camilla and beavers Castor and Luisa measure where the pond will be once the creek is dammed, map where the animals live in the area, and use the concept of intersection to determine which animals will need to move to new homes before the area floods. As always, the Note to Parents and Caregivers at the back of the book has more info on the book’s themes as well as activities to do with kids.
I wrote this story in the summer of 2020. It was hard to be creative when the pandemic hit, and change after change, from school closures to the uncertainty of shifting guidelines, was exceptionally hard for everyone to deal with. This story got me writing again. Exploring the emotional ups and downs of dealing with change was cathartic, and I hope it helps readers of all ages adjust to changes in their lives, be they big or small.