Quite unintentionally, this week has a theme: forests. Sorry-not-sorry.

Nell Cross Beckerman has visited my blog once before (5 years ago!). She writes books for children to inspire wonder and celebrate adventure. A former reality/documentary TV producer, she is the author of the acclaimed book Caves, which received three starred reviews. She is also the author of Down Under the Pier, When the Sky Glows, and more to come. Nell lives in Culver City, California, with her husband, two daughters, and their beloved pooch, Teddy. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram or BlueSky.

FORESTS is her latest nonfiction picture book based on nature. This time she explores one of my favorite ecosystems and there are some surprising inclusions. And if you’re not familiar with the other books in this series, prepare yourself for an incredible visual feast. I cannot rave enough about this book. It’s gorgeous!

Welcome back Nell!

Me: Caves, volcanoes, and now forests. What gave you the idea to focus just on this one habitat for your latest book? 

Nell: When I consider the different topics, I’m looking for something that will check a lot of boxes. Will seeing that subject on the cover make readers want to grab it? Are there lots of different examples of the subjects that will take the reader all over the world and springboard into different subjects? Will the illustrations be visually amazing and varied? What kind of overall structure/angle can I bring to it? Forests passed all those tests, along with the fact that it is a more accessible part of nature than caves and volcanoes—this is something that kids can more readily go see and experience on their own. I’ll admit that all the recent budget cuts the government has made for our national parks and other environmental protections also increased the urgency I felt for readers to appreciate and hopefully help protect our forests.

Me: I was completely surprised to see an underwater forest make it into your book. That’s very unusual and unique when it comes to talking about trees. What gave you the idea to include it? Did you receive any push back from critique partners, editors, etc. about including it?

Nell: It is important for me to have surprises in these books. Since they are essentially “list” books, the pressure is on to keep each page turn engaging and surprising. In VOLCANOES we ended up at the bottom of the ocean and in outer space! So kelp forests were always on the list and I got no pushback from anyone, luckily.

Me: Speaking of surprising inclusions, I admit that I laughed out loud when I saw your text for the Amazon. Dare I ask if that’s a Guns and Rose allusion included there? Are you a fan of the band? Or was that just a little fun tongue-in-cheek?

Nell: Haha yea! So glad you laughed—I still giggle when I get to that page and YES it is absolutely a wink to the parents/adults reading it. I just heard the audio book for FORESTS (it is amazing! Very immersive) and had to hold myself back from suggesting they drop a guitar riff on that page. 

Me: Ha! That’s awesome. Can you tell us a bit about your research process?  How long did it take you to research all the different facts and tidbits that went into this story? Any research troubles or special discoveries that helped to shape the book?

Nell: Oh jeeze! I have no idea how to answer that! The book was written so piecemeal. When my editor originally acquired CAVES, she asked for a series proposal so I did some research then to name some forests I would include. Years later when I came back to it, I switched some of them out. I’m always working on a million things at once so I dip back and forth. I was lucky enough to work with a professor in the Forestry department at Oregon State University who did fact checking for me, and I worked with my high school AP Bio teacher who is now a volunteer at Monterey Bay Aquarium who fact-checked the kelp forest part. I also went to the Long Beach Aquarium for creative inspiration about the kelp forest and practically climbed into one of their tanks to try to imagine what being kelp feels like.

What I really leaned into with this book was the sensory experiences, especially what things sound like. That’s why the audio book is so good! I found an interactive feature on the New York Times website about the Monarch Butterfly Preserve in the oyamel fir forest and the first thing that struck me was what it sounded like. I realized it sounded like cards being shuffled. So I wrote flittering, fluttering, air sounding like card shuffling.

Me: The illustrations by Kalen Chock are gorgeous! Each spread is a sweeping epic stunner! Were there any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?

Nell: Yes Kalen is amazing. I’m so happy for him that this book was accepted to the Society of Illustrators Original Art show. Such an honor! I think my favorite is the kelp forest—I’m obsessed with the otters!

Me: I love all of the back matter that you have included, especially the pictures of you with trees when you were younger. Was that your idea to include? Or was that someone else’s suggestion (agent, editor, etc.)? Was there anything that got left out or you wish you could’ve included?

Nell: This started with CAVES—there is also an author’s note that shows me as a little girl with my dad in a cave. I think it is fun for kids to see authors as kids. That’s how I always start out my author visit. It was my editor’s idea to have an author’s note about what inspired the book, and I wrote about going to see caves with my dad, which led to the idea of including a photo. I’m lucky my dad took a lot of photos and has them so well organized!

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing this story?

Nell: I was surprised to find out how many nonprofits exist that will plant a tree for free at your home or school! We include details about how to do that in the back matter.

Ohhh! That’s a great inclusion! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog again today Nell.

Dear readers, this book publishes November 4th. You’ll want to keep your eyes open for this one. This book is both awe-inspiring (you’ll immediately want to go out to a forest) and jaw droppingly stunning. Trust me when I say that you won’t want to miss it!