Nurse Florence, What Do Hormones Control? introduces children to the powerful world of hormones through an engaging, beautifully illustrated conversation that makes complex biology clear, friendly, and fun. What inspired you to frame the science of hormones as a casual conversation in a school lunchroom?

When I started the series, the first book’s setting was in the nurse’s office. I thought about where else a school nurse could interact with kids and decided the lunch room was appropriate, as well as the school classroom. I know it seems a little strange for elementary kids to approach the school nurse at lunch, but I want nurses to appear approachable and trusted.

How did you decide which hormonal functions were most important, and most age-appropriate, to feature for young readers?

The source document I used from the Cleveland Clinic highlighted the hormones I discussed in the book.

Were there any scientific concepts you found especially challenging to simplify without oversimplifying?​

The chemical structures of amino acids. I choose to just leave drawings of all the structures and let it be left for another book to go into detail about the structure of molecules.

What do you hope children (and the adults reading with them) will feel or understand differently after finishing this book?​

I hope kids, parents, and grandparents, as well as aunts and uncles, will feel empowered as they read these books together. I hope to help bring community feelings back to our community.

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