“Nurse Florence, What Are Some Summer Safety Tips?” is an informative guidebook for children, preparing them for a safe and enjoyable summer through life-saving lessons. How did you decide which summer safety tips to include in the narrative, given the vast array of possible subjects?

I did some research on the topic and started first with a respected organization, the CDC. Then, I searched for other compiled lists on the topic and those that included things the others didn’t I used as a reference which are all listed in the back of the book for people to go to the source documents.

Can you discuss the collaboration process with illustrator JoAnn Smith and how you both ensured the images would support and enhance your safety messages?

With all my illustrators, I give minimal direction so the illustrator can use their artistic freedom to create whatever they would like. For example, one of the illustration requests stated: Image on screen of child putting sunscreen cream on skin in bathing suit (about SPF number and after water). Another request stated: Sonia with her hand raised (going to talk about called 911).

As the book seems particularly useful for educators, do you have any additional resources or lesson plan ideas for teachers who want to use this book in their classrooms?

Like is mentioned in the review, the kids ask great questions. I think if a class reads this book together, they could follow the lead of the kids in the book and ask the teacher other questions that may not be covered in the book to keep the conversation going. In the Nurse Florence series, we try very hard to show kids as thoughtful, asking insightful questions and making brilliant comments. We want kids to feel empowered that they can contribute to the learning process and that it doesn’t have to be a one way direction of information.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

The next book to be published is Nurse Florence, Tell Me About the Nose. With every book, we try to include material that may be new to adults as well as kids so that when parents read any book, they will also come away with the feeling that they learned something and have a greater understanding of how their body works.

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