Nurse Florence®, Tell Me About the Skin invites young readers on a friendly, science-packed journey into how their skin works and how to care for it, guided by a compassionate nurse and lively classroom characters. How did you balance scientific accuracy with the need to keep concepts accessible for young readers ages 6–9?

One way I do this is by trying to have a mindset of a child and think about what they would want to learn as well as how they could learn the material.

The book uses analogies, like comparing skin to the ozone layer. How do you develop these kid-friendly explanations?

Keeping an open-mind about new information helps.

What role do themes of compassion, such as the dedication to Florence Nightingale and Dr. Jean Watson, play in shaping the book’s message?​

Nursing compassion is an art, and it is something that can be learned and improved upon.  A person doesn’t either have compassion or no compassion.  The amount of compassion a person has can be seen as a spectrum, and they may have more compassion at different times in their lives as well as different amounts for different people.  Let us learn to exercise compassion and alleviate misery when able to our civilization can reach its potential.

How do you collaborate with illustrator Madrid Rosario to ensure the visuals reinforce both the science and the emotional tone of the story?​

I give my illustrators vague drawing requests and expect them to use their maximum creativity to produce outstanding results. 

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