How I became an Author

In 1996 I started writing for children because of my work as Executive Director of the YWCA of Bucks County. I had designed a mentoring program for first grade students, who worked for most of the school year with a trained high school student tutor. Because the program was so successful, we were asked to expand it from 3 schools to 12 and several hundred more books had to be bought. Before buying those books I read every one. Some were so beautiful, that I decided to learn to write books for children and, hopefully, become an author some day.

After finding a published author who was willing to teach me in her home, I worked diligently for 3 years until she told me I didn’t need any more lessons. I continued attending SCBWI and other conferences and workshops for writers and I read many “how to write” books to hone my skills.

I only write about subjects I love, or those I want to learn more about. Since penguins are my favorite animal, Penguin Chick became my first nonfiction manuscript and also my first book. It was published by HarperCollins in 2002 in the award winning Let’s-Read-an-Find-Out Science series. I was happily surprised when it won numerous awards and honors and its success continues to amaze and delight me.

After finding a snake skin in the woods, I decided to write my second book, How Animals Shed Their Skin. Later I was curious about how animals send messages to each other, so I wrote How Animals Communicate. Another topic I wanted to explore was “play” and How Animals Play was my next book project. Scholastic (Library Division) published the first book in this series in 2002 and the other two in 2004.

After falling in love with sea otters at Monterey Bay Aquarium, I wrote Baby Sea Otter and when an editor from Henry Holt was my “mentor” at a SCBWI conference, she said she liked the story and asked if she could show it to her acquisitions committee. I dedicated the book to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Conservation Program with special thanks to marine biologist Michelle Staedler, who provided much helpful information. I also thanked Reka Simonsen in the book for being such a great editor.

I now have five books about animals published and several others are being considered by editors.

Last year I was fortunate to do on-site research at the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Center in China and a story about pandas is now under editorial review. Holding 5 month old Mau-Mau (Little Sister) on my lap was the highlight of that trip!

What I’m Writing Now

I recently completed writing a manuscript about pandas after doing some of the research in Chengdu, China last year, reading several dozen books on the subject, browsing the Internet and getting valuable information from the World Wildlife Fund. Since these loveable animals are “highly endangered,” according to WWF and there are fewer than 2000 left in the whole world, I want to raise awareness about the need to keep them and other endangered species from extinction.

Other recent projects are two fiction picture book manuscripts for pre-school age children that are also currently being considered by an editor and two nonfiction picture books for 5 to 9 year old children. So far all of my books have been about animals, but I am now writing my first historical novel and it’s not about animals.

For more than a year I have been working on a middle grade novel set in Bucks County during the American Revolutionary War. Doing research at Washington Crossing Museum, the David Library, the Mercer Museum and a few other locations has been both fascinating and very time consuming. I have read the “first page” of this story to some of the older students during school visits and reactions have been very positive. So I will continue, even though I still have to write two-thirds of the manuscript – and that’s only the first draft! Re-writing usually takes much longer than first drafts, but as I tell students – if you want a gem of a book, you have to keep “polishing and polishing!”

About the Illustrators

While I have not met Helen K. Davie in person, I know her quite well from letters, e-mail correspondence and a couple of telephone conversations. Helen has illustrated more than a dozen picture books. It usually takes her about a year to complete her exceptionally beautiful illustrations for a Let’s Read and Find Out Science Book like Penguin Chick. Helen was allowed by Sea World staff in San Diego to go into the emperor penguins’ icy habitat to observe and draw these birds.

Joan Paley, Baby Sea Otter’s illustrator says, “I’m happiest when I’m surrounded by paint, brushes, crayons, pencils, fabrics, textured papers, and a pair of scissors. “ She starts the art work for each picture book with just one piece of paper, sketching all the pages in very tiny pictures. Then she paints large sheets of paper in different colors and she also uses textured paper. Next come scissors and after Joan has cut out different shapes, she layers them and glues them in place to create her stunning illustrations. While I haven’t met Joan yet, I hope to get to know her some day because we both love animals and want to protect them.

The Role of Experts in Nonfiction Writing

Marine biologist Frank Todd, who has studied and lived with emperor penguins (off and on) for more than 30 years, was very helpful when I wrote Penguin Chick. While I had read numerous books and thoroughly searched the Internet, some of the information I had found was not correct. I was, therefore, very lucky to have an expert critique my manuscript. Frank also lent some of the 10,000 slides he had taken of emperor penguins to Helen K. Davie, the illustrator of the book and he reviewed her illustrations as well as my text. Both Helen and I thanked him in the book. HarperCollins, the publisher, also had another expert review the book and both experts agreed.

I love animals and enjoy learning and writing about them and I am lucky to have a friend who is a biologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Doug Wechsler reviewed all three of my How Animals….. manuscripts before I sent them to Scholastic. Then the publisher had a “content expert” check the science facts to be sure everything was correct.

The “facts” in Baby Sea Otter were reviewed by Michelle Staedler, a marine biologist who works with orphaned sea otter pups at Monterey Bay Aquarium. She teaches them to survive in the wild before they are released. Having experts like Michelle, Doug and Frank review my work before I send it to an editor is very helpful.

Reviews (Excerpts)

Baby Sea Otter

Booklist

…..”Colorful collages, created from delicately hand-painted and textured papers, bring the details in the text to life, showing the kelp bed that keeps the baby from drifting away, the shells the otters eat, and the careful attention the mother gives her offspring. Informative and entertaining, this is an excellent resource to introduce young children to sea otters. Additional information is appended in “Sea Otter Facts.” - Karen Hutt

Horn Book

“An irresistibly adorable otter pup and her mother float, dive and play in a bright blue sea, as readers learn how otters care for their young. Paley’s vibrantly colored cut-paper illustrations engage readers while also enhancing the excellent scientific information presented in Tatham’s absorbing text.” …....“The account condenses a remarkable amount of information, conveyed in a manner understandable to young children, in just a few lines or paragraphs per page.” D.J.F.

Kirkus

“Tatham present the better-known facts about otters-they use their bellies as a table and pound shellfish with rocks-along with ones that are not as commonly known-eagles, the outgoing tide, and kidnapping by male otters are among the threats to babies.”…..”Paley’s hand-painted and textured papers make the collage artwork especially breathtaking.”…..”Beautiful art and solid facts for animal lovers.”

School Library Journal

“A baby sea otter is born and cared for by her mother, who grooms her, hunts for food, feeds her, and saves her from a hungry eagle.”.......”At one point the baby is kidnapped by a male sea otter, but the mother rescues her….” The clear, simple paragraphs of text, interspersed with the drama that the otters face daily, will keep young readers interested. Paley’s lush blue-and aqua-toned collages add texture and richness”…..”the topic will appeal to a wide audience.”

How Animals Communicate

Children’s Literature – Robin Overby Cox

“Kissing groundhogs, singing whales, dancing bees, and spraying skunks tell each other messages undetected or misunderstood by human observers of the animal kingdom. Kids with millions of questions on animal-related field trips will gravitate to this author’s interesting explanations of animal behavior.”

Bucks County Library – Joan Bowman (Board Member) 2004

“Comprehensive in her treatment of her subject the author divides the text into the types of communication that closely follows the five senses.”...”Children interested in animals will enjoy perusing this book, and the information can be utilized to complete school assignments, too. A must-buy for public and school libraries".

Penguin Chick

American Library Association’s Book List Reviewer Carolyn Phelan said in part:

"... the clear simple text provides intriguing details and inherent drama that will keep young children involved straight through till the end. Using cool, wintry hues, Davie’s paintings illustrate the penguin’s world in a series of varied compositions that are often beautiful in their clean lines and subtly modulated colors… A fine contribution to an excellent series."

Excerpt from the Horn Book Review:

"Tatham provides an impressive introduction to emperor penguin growth and development. The book is clear and accurate, presenting information in a manner that trusts the intelligence of children without taking away from their fascination with nature."

Excerpt from Virginia Kirkus' book review. Source Kirkus™ 11-15-2001

“The chronological narrative uses short, but interesting sentences to describe the loving care of the penguin parents and the varied sounds the birds use to communicate. The attractive design includes large illustrations….”

How to Stay in Touch with Betty Tatham

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Your Author,

Betty Tatham