Every night before going to bed, Henrietta dances bare-pawed in her front yard, packs her backpack for the morning, brushes her teeth, and tucks her stuffed animals into bed. But when poisonous thistleberries start falling in the forest and Henrietta is forced to stay home from school for a whole year, many of her beloved routines are disrupted. Henrietta must learn how to wear boots to protect her from the thistleberries, a challenging task since she hates anything touching her paws. And she must learn how to be flexible when confronted with change. Henrietta's Thistleberry Boots is a picture book meant to share at home or in the classroom. Henrietta is a unique, spirited, and determined character who struggles with not knowing. Children, parents, and teachers will all relate to the powerful emotions evoked by change and the unknown. The themes in this story-adjustment, patience, and courage-will inspire children to be resilient when confronted with life's challenges.
Author Biography:
Laura Anderson Kirby, Ph.D. is a children's book author inspired by her work as child clinical psychologist and her experience raising two young, spirited children. She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University, where she majored in Psychology and minored in English. She then spent two years in training at the Yale Child Study Center, followed by a five-year Developmental/Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland. Laura then returned to the Yale Child Study Center to complete her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship. Currently, she is a Clinical Associate at the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development. Laura's passion is to promote social emotional learning through her writing, to help spirited and neurodiverse children feel understood, and to inspire societal acceptance of all kinds of people-because the world needs them! Marcy Tippmann received her BFA from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 2005, where her main focus was illustration. After graduation, she received a scholarship to travel anywhere she wished - she chose to explore western Oregon. Though it was only meant to be a short visit, she has now lived here for over 15 years. The endless beauty of the natural world that surrounds her inspires not only her illustrations, but many elements of her graphic design work as well. She currently lives in the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon. For the first 10 years of her career, she worked as a freelance children' book illustrator, creating images for educational textbooks and beginning readers. In 2015, she took a job in a small in-house marketing department for a company that specializes in natural home and garden products. There, she was able to greatly expand her illustration and design portfolio while also learning more about photography and animation. She particularly enjoyed creating illustrations for exclusive products then coordinating with manufacturers in the US, India, China and Europe. She takes all of these experiences and personal growth with her as she returns to freelance illustration. She is interested in creating illustrations for children's books, book covers and custom-designed products. Brooke Vitale is a children's book editor with more than fifteen years' experience at some of the world's top publishing companies, including Penguin Random House and Disney. Over the course of her career, she has edited over a thousand children's books, spanning all categories including picture books, middle grade, activity books, and nonfiction. Among her favorites (and my most successful) were Hide and Hug Olaf, by Kevin Lewis, which sold over 400,000 copies, and Olaf's Night Before Christmas, which sold over 250,000 copies.
