Big news! Amazing Missouri Animals: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and MO! will be celebrating its book birthday at the end of January.

I’m delighted to introduce my ninth title through Reedy Press. Amazing Missouri Animals is a chronicle of critters that explores the lives of the many species that call Missouri home. This book’s origin story begins as many books (at least in my experience) do. It all started a little over a year ago with a call from my publishers at Reedy Press. They wanted to publish a book all about the weird and wild animals that live in our Show Me State. And they wanted to know if I would write it.

Listen, I’m a pretty busy lady. I work full time at the Zoo and care for my own crazy critters (in this case a 6-year old and a 4-year old, respectively) at home. But I could NOT pass up the opportunity to dive deep into such a fun and interesting project.

One of my author “interns” saying hello to featured animal, “Peanut” the turtle.

A year and some change later, I’m so happy that I accepted the challenge. I have to admit that, Amazing Missouri Animals was my favorite book to write for Reedy Press. In my job at the Zoo, I spend ALL DAY learning and educating our guests about animals. It was so much fun to couple this experience with my love of writing to create this book. Not only did I get to tap into the lifetime of wildlife knowledge I’ve cultivated since childhood, but I also got to research, read, and learn from area animal experts to expand the fascinating facts forming this nonfiction work.

I really didn’t know that bats made such good mothers or that moles can dig a network of tunnels that span over 150 feet! Something I love about BOTH of my jobs, is that I’m always learning, and working on this book was no exception. I’m excited to share some interesting tidbits and stories with you too.

From special species to a few famous individuals, this book is a field guide for explorers and animal lovers alike. I hope that you can let this book be a guide for both discovering and celebrating the remarkable animals all around us, in our own Missouri home.

I can’t wait to celebrate this book birthday with you all. Thanks for being along for this wild ride!

Link for pre-orders found HERE!

Exploring Missouri, always on the lookout for MO animals!