IN SEARCH OF SASQUATCH...
More soon, but I wanted to share this with you because I'm so excited. YAY!
IN SEARCH OF SEA MONSTERS?
More Wax Museum pictures!
Maya's Research...
Maya and her mom Jennifer and Kassidy and her mom Kristin invited me to come to Liberty Lake on Tuesday, June 8 to see the other "Kelly Milner Halls" for myself. I was so excited to attend. Turns out FOUR girls did their reports on me, and I got to talk to them all.
Thank you SO much, girls. I was so impressed with your great writing and research, not to mention those GREAT posters. I am touched more than you will ever know! What a night!
Now available from Greenwillow/HarperCollins
Listen to William Sumner read an excerpt HERE, thanks to TeachingBooks.net.
Read an interview with William Sumner HERE.
“Sobering and uplifting photographs—many taken by Sumner—underscore both the direness of the situation and the spirit of hope that drove the project…Eye-opening.”
Publishers Weekly
“Loaded with reader appeal, these tales of animal rescue focus on the animals but also provide some insight into what Baghdad was like in the wake of the U.S. invasion.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Bolstered with large, beautiful color photos and informative sidebars, this dramatic picture-book-size-photo-essay tells of the U.S. army rescue of zoo animals in the Iraqi war zone.” ALA Booklist
Fascinating and moving, the book makes real the tragedy of war but also affirms the goodness that exists in human hearts. Just put this one on display and watch it fly out the door with readers.
Booklist Blog BookEnds -- Lynn Rutan
"This book is absolutely a must-have, no-discussion, gimme-gimme purchase for the school library...It's a fascinating story, a terrific discussion starter, an inspiration"
Pink Me Blog -- a Librarian from Baltimore
"This is a great story. So often our kids come to the library looking for books about war. I am never sure quite what they want and neither are they. This book does not cover up the tragedies of a war, but doesn't focus on those. Instead this book focuseds on this one aspect of recovery and we get to know the real dangers, the real people and the animals who were involved. And Kelly Milner Halls definitely knows how to write for kids."
A Year of Reader blogger
Welcome to the WONDERS OF WEIRD!
I get paid for being weird. That's what I tell the kids at school and library visits, and it's pretty much true. I also get paid for being a good writer and a VERY serious researcher. But the books and articles I LOVE to write tend to be a little bit (or a whole lot) weird, in terms of their themes.
That's because I get so curious about unusual subjects like dinosaur soft tissue or albinism or cryptozoology (Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, etc.). It's also because I couldn't find the books I loved to read in the library when I was a kid, more than 40 years ago. I write the books I would have read when I was 10.
On this website, I'll try to keep you up to date on what I'm writing and why, along with where I'm going and what I'm doing -- the interesting stuff, anyway. I hope you'll come back often, but I thank you for stopping by at all. ~ Kelly
September 2008
Lark/Sterling Publishing, September 2008
Gigantic dinosaurs, tiny dinos, dinosaurs of every size: they’re gathered here for a big parade and kids are invited to join in the fun! These endlessly fascinating prehistoric creatures may have vanished from the Earth more than 60 million years ago, but this large-format picture book shows what it might be like to stand next to a real, live dinosaur. Colorful illustrations capture a happy procession of children marching alongside an array of dinosaurs; with just one look, young readers can put the relative sizes of human and beast in perspective—instantly making dinosaurs accessible.
Dinosaur Parade answers all those endless questions, too: a simple rhyming text introduces nine well-known dinosaur groups, from Sauropods to Therizinosaurs. Children eager to learn more can delve into fascinating facts about over 60 dinosaurs at the bottom of the each page including their names, when they lived, and where they were found. The information is fabulous—but the contagiously joyful, festive feeling every picture conveys is even better!
BUY THE BOOK!
September 2008
Darby Creek Publishing, September 2008
Kirkus Review, August 08
Wild horses? Hmm-there's mustangs, right? Maybe zebras? Halls expands the topic considerably with this well-researched, well-organized and clearly written volume. She first tackles eohippus, the tiny "dawn horse"-clearly wild, as it existed before humankind-and traces how it developed into equus, the modern horse. From there she discusses the wild horses that exist today in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, including fascinating asides on such topics as the healthy herd of Przewalski's horses living in the shadow of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, the ancient chalk Uffington horse in England and the actions taken to save the National Arabian Herd of Iraq. The text closes with a list of organizations that work to preserve wild horses. A thorough and useful volume. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10 & up)
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