Articles

Scientists explore 3 Weeks in the Rainforest

Rainforest Book cover

Science Rocks! And so do Jennifer Swanson’s books. She is the award-winning author of over 50 nonfiction STEM books for children. A former middle school science teacher for 14 years, she’s also a science communicator, podcaster, and lifelong explorer. Jennifer is a long-time contributor and admin to the Mixed-Up Files blog, creator of the STEM Tuesday blog, and also the STEAMTeam Books promo group. You can learn more about Jennifer and her books at https://jenniferswansonbooks.com/. Most recently, Jen explored the rainforest’s environment with scientists who spent 3 Weeks in the Rainforest. Her forthcoming book captures the diverse ecosystems as well as the ways local communities and indigenous people have adapted to co-exist within this amazing environment.

Jen became interested in the Amazon inventory while at an exhibit of The Field Museum in Chicago while visiting her daughter who was a summer intern. The two decided to visit The Field Museum, and that is where Jen first saw the exhibit about the Rapid Inventory Project. We sat down to watch the short video about the project. Jen was hooked. “The vivid images, the amazing conservation efforts, and the team of awesome scientists made the Amazon come alive.” As Jen walked through the rest of the very informative and descriptive exhibit she was enthralled “to learn how these scientists would count every single animal they saw, collect samples, and literally take an inventory of the biological creatures of that area. But I think the coolest part was that the social scientists made great effort to include the local communities and Indigenous Peoples in their reports. The people who live in that area should have a lot of say in how it would be set up as protected lands.”

Jen recognizes that this inventory is important for readers and for the world. “It is an unbiased way to evaluate the health of an ecosystem, determine its strengths and where it might need help. But I think the best part of the way The Field Museum scientists work is that they do this with the full cooperation and involvement of local communities, Indigenous Peoples living there, as well as scientists from all levels of life. It is the people that live there that know best about the areas and that is a huge part of the recommendation made to the country for protection.”

The narrative style of Jen’s writing gives readers the sense of being right there in the field keeping a diary with the different teams. It creates a close bond for readers. But Jen didn’t trave with any of the teams because it wouldn’t be allowed. Instead Jen interviewed a few of the females scientists in person before the pandemic and interviewed the rest via zoom. Jen added, “Also, I’m not sure I’m as brave as they are to just go through these jungles and live amongst the animals.”

She would love for readers to come away from reading this book with an understanding that “there are ways to help their own environments.” This book isn’t just about the Amazon but could be about each reader’s own backyard or local park. She encourages readers to “take a biological inventory of the plants and animals around where you live. Find out which ones might be indigenous to your area, and which ones are not. Learn how you can help to keep your environment healthy and long-lasting.”

She explains that this ability to see the environment and keep it healthy is why she writes for kids. She says, “I think it’s a great way for them to see how people from different backgrounds and different countries can come together and collaborate to protect one of the world’s most amazing resources: the Amazon rainforest.”

One of the surprising aspects of the inventory team preparations for exploring an area was that a lead team comes and not only creates paths in and out of the rainforest, but they create necessary tables, chairs, canopies of leaves for the teams and then leave these items for local use. Jen feels the coolest part of this book was “talking with the awesome scientists that participated in it. My favorite part was when Dr. Lesley de Souza, an ichthyologist, told me that they just walk right into bodies of water or rivers in the Amazon. No waders, just boots and jeans. I said, aren’t their anaconda in these waters. She shrugged and said, ‘Yes, sometimes. The key is to just not let it wrap itself too far up your leg.’ (Yikes! And Wow! She is sooo impressive)”

Jen’s final chapters focus on the ways people can live and work in a symbiotic relationship with nature and the environment within the rain forests. Jen saw this as a way that kids and their grownups living in urban or suburban environments can create a lifestyle that incorporates this relationship into their lives. “The best thing to do is to learn about the environment where you live. Discover which plants are indigenous, or which might be invasive. Try to support the indigenous ones. Maybe even conduct your own inventory of creatures that live there. Consider planting areas that might help feed or protect these creatures. When you are more aware of your surroundings, you will naturally treat them better which is also better for your own mental health.”

The images in this book are lush and beautiful. Jen explains that the Field Museum provided all of the photos. Charlesbridge Publishing and the Field Museum came to their own agreement about the photos. Although Jen wasn’t involved with that she’s glad it worked out. “They are absolutely gorgeous!”

Jen encourage readers to learn more about the environments we need to maintain the earth and suggested that readers “look into local nonprofit organizations that might support a river, or zoos, or even parks. Find out what they are doing to help the environment and volunteer. If you live near a beach, participate in beach cleanups or help to promote safe turtle nesting. If you find an injured animal call the local rescue group. There are so many ways to help, you just need to look around and reach out.”

Readers are encouraged by Jen if they have the means to visit the Field Museum in Chicago. “I highly recommend it. It’s a fabulous place! There are so many different exhibits that teach us all about history and science. And, you’ll get to experience the book in a different way by walking through the Rapid Inventory exhibit. It’s amazing!”

Just in Time for Halloween! GREEKING OUT: TALES FROM THE UNDERWORLD – Interview with authors Jillian Hughes and Kenny Curtis

When the opportunity to interview Kenny and Jillian crossed my desk, I donned my winged sandals and zoomed to reply. The duo are the creators behind the immensely entertaining Greeking Out podcast from National Geographic Kids and the authors of the popular Greeking Out book series. My eight-year-old grabbed their first two books from the library and quickly requested his own personal copies. For the last year, they have been his constant companions – in the car, at a restaurant, on the couch. Pandora’s Box was opened – except this time, entertaining and enlightening Greek mythology flowed forth. Whew! My son has taught me more than a college course could!

It is with this “fan girl” background that I had the opportunity to read GREEKING OUT: TALES FROM THE UNDERWORLD, the newest addition to the series – and just in time for Halloween! The book retells 20 bone-chilling myths about the afterlife with the humor and kid-friendly voice that makes the entire series irresistible.

Let’s hop in Charon’s boat and visit the underworld in all its spooky story glory!

Emily Starr: My son is a huge fan of your first two books: Greeking Out: Epic Retellings of Classic Greek Myths and Greeking Out: Heroes and Olympians. What lead you to choose “Tales from the Underworld” as the theme for this collection? (It is difficult to express how excited my son is to read it!)

Jillian and Kenny: I’m so glad your son is excited! We’ve heard from readers that the Underworld is a fan favorite, so we figured this would be a great theme for our third book. There are a ton of great stories here, not just about the Underworld itself, but also about things like immortality, love, family dynamics, and death, of course.

The podcast regularly features “field trips” where we retell myths from outside of ancient Greece, but this is our first book that includes stories from mythologies around the world. It’s fascinating how every culture has some concept of the Underworld and the afterlife, and we hope readers enjoy learning about these different mythologies.

Emily Starr: My son learned about Greek Mythology in second grade and that is how he came to find your books. Many of our readers are educators, so what are some ways you suggest your books can be used in the classroom? Are there specific read aloud techniques or activities you recommend?

Jillian and Kenny: We love hearing this! We want these books to be used in the classroom as much as possible. National Geographic Kids put together an Educator’s Guide that features discussion questions and activities that would work well for any of the Greeking Out books:

https://books.disney.com/content/uploads/2024/07/GreekingOut-EducatorsGuide-Update-8844-FINAL.pdf

Emily Starr: Authors also frequent our blog. Can you please share with them how you approach retelling a “classic” story with a fresh take? For example, do you use a specific process or ask yourself a set of questions to breathe new life into a story passed down over generations?

Jillian and Kenny: We always start by doing a lot of research. We’ll read as many different versions of the story as we can and then meet with our producer and subject experts to understand the story from a historical perspective. It’s important that we stick to the plot as closely as possible (we want to make Homer proud), but we’ll add fresh takes to the way we portray the characters. We incorporate humor and jokes to try and establish more of a personality for some of these famous characters. And if they make any questionable decisions —which unfortunately, they do a lot —- we’ll comment on that in a humorous way and point out why we now know that’s wrong.

Emily Starr: In the introduction, you joke about asking really big questions like: “What do you call that little metal thing right below the eraser on a pencil?” So, right away readers are clued in that this isn’t going to be a book of stiff retellings. Can you share a bit about how you see the role of humor when exploring themes of death?

Jillian and Kenny: Humor is essential to the way we choose to tell these stories. Especially with scarier topics, humor is a great way to remind readers that this is just pretend. It also promotes a love of learning. Our goal is to make readers fall in love with mythology, and we’ve found humor to be a great way to do that.

Emily Starr: You pack so much rich information into sidebars. Why did you feel it was important to include facts beyond the story?

Jillian and Kenny: That’s part of the beauty of working with National Geographic Kids. These stories aren’t just entertaining, they’re also incredibly educational. We want kids to learn something about the world while reading this book. The sidebars are the perfect way to promote learning in a quick, fun way.

Emily Starr: If you had to choose a favorite story in this book, what would it be and why? (I know that is a difficult question because I had a very hard time choosing. Although, Princess: 1, Death: 0 is a top contender.)

Jillian: I also love Princes: 1, Death: 0! Savitri is such a great role model. But I also love The World’s Worst Love Story. I had a lot of fun writing that one!

Kenny: Those two are also some of my favs! I also like “War and Death: A Love Story”, because it shows how you can sometimes find happiness and love in very unlikely places – and I really like the story of Odysseus and the Sirens.

Emily Starr: Can you share a bit about what’s coming next?

Jillian and Kenny: We’re working on another season of Greeking Out which will debut this month (October) on YouTube Kids, and a 4th book in the Greeking Out series is in the works. Stay tuned!

JILLIAN HUGHES is a professional writer with her heart in the kids and family industry. She’s a writer for National Geographic Kids’ Greeking Out podcast series and has contributed to other platforms including Pinna, Tinkercast, and iHeart. She also works as a copywriter, crafting marketing collateral for numerous industries. While she enjoys working with all her clients, she is especially partial to collaborating with Kenny—who just happens to be her dad.

KENNY CURTIS has more than 30 years in children’s programming as a performer, writer, and producer. He is one of the creators of National Geographic Kids’ Greeking Out podcast series, which he hosts and cowrites alongside his daughter, Jillian Hughes. Together, Kenny and Jillian have helped develop a number of well-known kids’ content offerings for partners and platforms like Pinna, Tinkercast, Kidz Bop, and 8 Pound Gorilla Records. But Kenny may be best known as the human behind the long-running radio program The Animal Farm on SiriusXM’s original family music channel, Kids Place Live.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Emily Starr

As a former fourth grade teacher and founder of StarrMatica, a STEM publishing company, Emily Starr has developed award-winning K-5 science curriculum and professional learning materials for 20 years. She is a member of the Iowa State Science Leadership Team, a peer reviewer for the National Science Teaching Association’s journal Science and Children, and a frequent presenter at state and national education conferences. Her debut middle grade nonfiction book will be released in 2026 from the Iowa Ag Literacy Foundation.

Interview with Author Angela Hsieh and her graphic novel: Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology

Welcome to From the Mixed-Up Files, Angela! It’s a pleasure to talk to you about your amazing graphic novel, Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology. The graphic novel was released on May 27, 2025, by Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins). Here’s the blurb from Bookshop.org:

Lu dreams of being a great adventurer, just like her ah-ma, who is a world-renowned geozoologist. Ah-ma has traveled far and wide, researching unique animals like dreamy cloud-jellies, enormous sunfish, and playful mossgoats. There’s nothing Lu loves more than reading Ah-ma’s letters about her quests, even if she and her mom struggle to understand the Cylian language Ah-ma writes in.

But when Ah-ma’s letters suddenly stop, Lu becomes worried. So when a nearby town needs a geozoologist, Lu decides to go on the journey to find Ah-ma. She charts a course with the help of Ren, an old friend turned new travel buddy.

As they follow in Ah-ma’s footsteps, Lu begins to discover the complex relationships between geofauna—and between people. What stories has Ah-ma never told her? And what’s Ren hiding from her?

What is Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology’s origin story?

As I get to know myself as an artist and writer, I’m realizing that there’s no one single origin for any of my stories. Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology is a combination of things I love and that have shaped my life: animals and nature, the relationships with the people around me, and growing up as part of the Taiwanese American diaspora. That being said, I can show you the very first illustration I ever made in the world of Geozoology:

Several years ago, I made a birthday illustration for a friend who really loves guinea pigs. My thought process was: “What if guinea pig… but BIGGER?” To really set the scene, I wrote a short travel postcard-style description on the back with fun facts about this guinea pig mountain’s behavior and ecology.

Needless to say, my friend loved it. So did a lot of other people, it turned out. So I set about drawing more giant landscape-animals (with proto-Lu for scale) and writing facts about them. The project transformed several times: from a series of illustrations that I thought I might turn into a calendar, to a picture book, to a graphic novel (though one very different from the Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology that was eventually published). 

Four years passed between that initial illustration and signing the contract for the book; another four passed before it was published. That’s a lot of years for ideas to meld together, come apart, and change. That’s also a lot of time for me to change as an artist. 

Can you share Angela Hsieh’s origin story as well?

I was one of those kids who loved reading and drawing. I had a vague idea that it’d be cool to make a book one day, but I wasn’t one of those “one day I’ll grow up to be an author” kids, you know? I read lots of manga and comics and watched a lot of animated films, so I knew that other people were out there making cool stories, but it all felt impossibly distant for me. I also thought I’d be going into the medical field for the majority of my education, so making my own stories was lower on my list of priorities for a long time. 

I don’t think there’s any one specific turning point in my life when I decided to make my own book, but rather a collection of events that led me down this path. One such moment was walking into my local Barnes & Noble as a high schooler and picking up the Flight comics anthology. Until then, I thought of comics as either 20-volume epic manga series (unattainable by its enormity) or daily funnies (something I enjoyed but didn’t want to make). Reading Flight made me feel like making comics could be an achievable goal. The seed was planted. I didn’t do anything with this revelation until about 15 years later, after I’d gotten an undergraduate degree in biology and finished my illustration degree, but I got there eventually. 

When did drawing evolve into visual storytelling for you? Have you always been drawn to telling stories with your art, or is it more of a long and winding path to get where you are today?

I both drew and wrote from a young age, but I didn’t really take the idea of combining the two seriously until I was an adult. And even then, I didn’t find my way to comics until after I graduated from art school. I thought I’d be an editorial illustrator, which often requires a more symbolic/conceptual approach than a narrative one (though the two aren’t mutually exclusive). I found myself more drawn to the narrative approach than the conceptual one. I realized the things I wanted to say could not be encompassed by one illustration.

To be completely honest, I resisted making comics for a long time because of the amount of time and work they require. But at some point, I came to the conclusion that they’re the best medium to tell the kinds of stories I want to tell (at least for now), so I just had to take the dive. 

As a MUF STEM Tuesday contributor and career scientist, my reader’s radar activates when I see STEM used in a fantasy story.  You used real-life science and nature in Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology to create a believable world by grounding the fantasy with recognizable natural elements. How important was it to you to get the natural elements right, but with enough fantastical elements to engage the reader?

I hope I got that balance right! I was a nerd child who read Audubon’s First Field Guide: Birds from cover to cover. I also loved reading the Pokédex entries in Pokémon. Since Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology is more about exploring and learning about the world and less about, say, which geofauna would win in a wrestling match, I aimed for somewhere in between Pokémon and Audubon’s First Field Guide on the spectrum of fantastical to factual. 

In terms of telling a compelling story, the balance was less about fantastical vs. realistic and more about weaving the science-y stuff into the plot to such a degree that learning about the world felt like a natural progression of the story. I tried to approach worldbuilding in, well, a scientific way. If I change one thing (i.e., there are big animal mountains), what else will change? In a world where people have to live among these big animal mountains that move around, how would people interact with them? Some people, like Lu and Ah-ma, would try to learn as much as possible about them. If we follow these characters, we’ll learn about the world through their eyes. 

The geofauna’s behavior is based on that of real animals, and their geological features are based on real-life locations. The most fantastical things about them are that they’re (a) huge, and (b) made of rocks. Otherwise, most of their biology and ecology is pretty similar to the way nature works in real life. I didn’t feel the need to put a fantastical spin on something like hydrangeas changing color based on soil pH because it tied in neatly into the world and the story I was trying to tell. And because the natural world is already pretty magical, if you ask me. 

One part of your book I enjoyed was the use of the Cylian (Mandarin Chinese) language heritage to drive Lu’s interest, need, and frustration in understanding Ah-ma’s writings from her letters and travel journals. How challenging was it to incorporate the Cylian language into the story? (You did a beautiful job of this, by the way!)

Thank you! I very quickly came to the conclusion that whenever written Cylian showed up on the page, it would not be actual Chinese. The practical reason: My Chinese is not nearly at the level required to write letters, much less scientific field notes. The conceptual reason: Even readers who can read Chinese wouldn’t be able to read Cylian, so all readers would be put in Lu’s shoes when she struggles with the language barrier. 

My parents sent me to Chinese school when I was a kid, so my hand still remembers the shapes of the characters, even though I’ve largely forgotten what they mean. I was able to write characters that resembled Chinese, which, upon closer inspection, were incomprehensible. I took a lot of inspiration from Xu Bing’s installation, A Book from the Sky. I wasn’t aiming for semantic meaning as much as I was aiming for the emotional tension you feel when looking at something you “should” understand but just can’t wrap your mind around. 

Like many second-generation Asian Americans, I speak my parents’ mother tongue all right, even if my reading and writing leave much to be desired. My team and I went back and forth a couple of times when trying to figure out how best to represent Cylian (Mandarin Chinese) vs. Lirrish (English) dialog. We tried chevrons and colored speech bubbles, but we ultimately decided that the most elegant solution was to use colored text (purple for Cylian, black for Lirrish) and add a short note at the beginning to explain the difference to readers. The reader, like myself and Lu, will be able to understand spoken Cylian, but be at a loss when confronted with the written form. 

The drive Lu feels to understand the language deepens her connection with Ah-ma and reveals her strong curiosity about the world. How did you connect Lu’s curiosity to her problem-solving skills of following Ah-ma’s trail?

Curiosity and problem-solving often go hand-in-hand in real life. I find that people who want to understand how the world works are also the same people who’re driven to create interesting solutions to challenges. It only made sense to me that a curious kid like Lu would try to understand the world as her ah-ma, her idol, would see it in order to find where she’s gone. Lu wants to know things. The only way to know things is to go out and find answers!

Page 70 might be my favorite page of the book. It’s a masterclass on how to represent the passage of time and space on a single page. The four panels at the top of the page depict the passage from night to dawn and are set over a sweeping landscape establishing shot of Lu and Ren entering Ambyton. (Wonderful work in my opinion!) How difficult was it to come up with a solution to the problem of representing time and distance in such a compact space? 

Thank you! Playing with the passage of time is one of my favorite things to explore in comics, right up there with the page turn. It makes me feel clever when I’m able to pull it off, haha. One of the interesting challenges of making a graphic novel that involves a lot of traveling is showing the days on the road without the story dragging or the pages getting repetitive, but still getting across to the reader that days or weeks have passed. On a comic page, the gutter—that is, the space between the panels—represents the passage of time. More, smaller panels will slow the reader’s eye down and make it feel like more time has passed. It’s one of those things that I didn’t think about consciously when I was just reading and not yet making comics, but now that I’m creating comics, I’ve learned it can be used to great effect when done with intention. 

For this particular page, it wouldn’t say it was terribly difficult—mostly because I’d been itching to use this technique ever since seeing other artists do it. Shaun Tan has a breathtakingly understated spread in The Arrival that depicts a lengthy journey by ship via the changing shapes of the clouds, day by day, in a grid of sixty square panels. This is followed by a page turn to a splash page of the ship on the ocean, a small shape dwarfed by the cumulonimbus clouds towering above it. Just gorgeous. When I see someone do something well, I want to try it too. 

As creators, we are interested in the creative processes of other creators. In my graphic novel critique group, it’s an oft-discussed topic. Three members of our group are sketch-to-script creators, while I’m firmly grounded in the script-to-sketches camp. For your graphic novels, what’s your approach?

You can’t see me, but I’m giving you a script-to-sketches fist bump. I do some visual development ahead of time for characters and locations, but when it comes to the story, I have to write it down first. I don’t draw very fast, so I want to make sure the beats and pacing are right before I commit to drawing hundreds of pages. I work in a fairly straightforward way, from script to thumbnails to sketches/pencils to colors. (Since I worked in a lineless style for Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology, I skipped inks and went straight to colors.)

Having the script first means I can plan for putting speech bubbles on the page from the moment I begin drawing the book. I always make sure to plan the layout of the speech bubbles when I thumbnail. Dialog takes up a lot of space! Even with a “finished” script, I ended up cutting lines as I drew, trying to keep only what was necessary so that the pages didn’t feel overly cluttered. 

Do you have a critique group or a group of fellow creators/friends with whom you bounce your work and ideas off?

I do! I’m part of a few groups, both local and online. I’ve got a couple of trusted friends who see the early stages of my work, before they’re anything near a fleshed-out story, and I’ve got critique partners who see the more refined draft and help me work out the rough spots. I try not to bring too many critique partners into any particular story I’m working on. There’s definitely such a thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. 

I’ve got to give a special shoutout to Middle Grade Escapades. It’s not a critique group, per se; it’s a marketing collective made up of 2025 middle grade debut authors. It’s been invaluable to have the support of folks who’re also going through the same roller coaster of an experience that is putting a book out in the world.

Apart from art and your creative practice, how do you spend your free time?

I’m a big believer in doing things that aren’t directly related to my creative practice. It both expands my world and gives me things to make art about. I love baking. My sourdough starter from 2020 is still alive and contributing focaccia to the household. I also practice (very amateur) bonsai. Every time I pass my window, I can’t help but stop and stare at the little garden we’ve got out there. One of my favorite things to do is hang out on my couch with a book or a crochet project and a cat on my lap. I play D&D and do my best to carve out time to spend with friends. 

After the release of Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology into the world, what’s next on your plate? Book promotion? School visits? Back to work on the next graphic novel?

I’ve spent my summer jetting about the US on my self-styled “book tour”—as of writing this, I’ve just gotten back from the wonderful Bigfoot Kids’ Book Festival in Washington—and I’m ready to hibernate in my apartment and just work on my next book! Though I met many wonderful readers and fellow authors this year, book promotion takes a lot out of me, and I found myself without any energy left to create. I’m looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of making things again. 

The From the Mixed-Up Files family wishes you and Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology the very best of luck, and hope it finds its readers! Thank you, Angela, for being our guest! Your book is absolutely fantastic. 

Thank you so much for having me, Mike!

Links

Angela Hsieh Website

Kids Comics Unite! Interview

Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology Publisher’s Page