I’m very excited to share my interview with talented author Elizabeth Shreeve on the book birthday of her new release, OUT OF THE BLUE: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon. Book birthdays are one of my favorite reasons, okay excuses, to eat cake for breakfast. I hope Elizabeth is enjoying cake this morning too. She is generously offering one lucky winner a signed copy of OUT OF THE BLUE: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas or one of her previously published books. Comment on the blogpost to enter the giveaway.

What were you like at the age of your target audience?
This photo says it all—I was a bookworm who loved to be outdoors. I spent a lot of time with our dogs and the various cats, birds, mice, and other critters that inhabited the house. Here I’m probably reading one of the Oz books that my dad brought from his own childhood. Dorothy was my role model—brave, adventurous, friendly, and lucky—but I was a dreamy, shy girl. My three older brothers were my heroes, too. They still are.

What inspires you?
I grew up with sand between my toes. Herring gulls, horseshoe crabs, the smell of a mudflat at low tide—those were the backdrops to my childhood on Long Island’s south shore. I live along the Pacific Ocean now, but I’m still inspired by beaches, shorelines, and islands. Give me some crashing waves…I’m happy! The love of oceans helped me dig deep into research when writing the book that’s coming out today: OUT OF THE BLUE: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas (Candlewick Press, May 2021).

What’s the one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
I truly hope that young readers will begin to appreciate the long history of life on Earth and the importance of healthy oceans. OUT OF THE BLUE describes how animals evolved in the oceans and moved onto land. It’s a huge topic, and I often felt overwhelmed during the research and writing process. But now that I see the book, illustrated so beautifully by Frann Preston-Gannon, I’m thrilled!

What’s next for you?
I’ve got other nonfiction books under contract including one about the evolution of sloths, The Upside-Down Book of Sloths (Norton Young Readers), set to be illustrated by the amazing Steve Jenkins. Several projects are on submission through my agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette. Most are nonfiction for elementary to middle school aged readers, plus some poetry. And I’m gearing up for author visits by creating a series of teaching videos for Out of the Blue. These are available for educators and others on my YouTube Channel, Elizabeth Shreeve Books. I hope you’ll check them out!
To learn more about Elizabeth’s books and connect with her:
@ShreeveBooks
https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.shreeve
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/phcer2yv
Thank you for inspiring children to keep our BLUE PLANET healthy!
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Elizabeth, thanks for reading. I agree we need to start this message early! I am hoping to get this book when I head out today. Good luck in the giveaway!
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I love that picture of you reading outside 🙂 Looking forward to reading, and fingers crossed on those submissions…
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Thanks for reading, Fleur! I have loved all the pictures of my interviewees as children. I think it brings us back to who we are writing for, plus they’re adorable!! Good luck in the giveaway!
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I can only imagine how daunting this topic was to boil down for kids! Books like this are so important to help teach young readers about the marvels of our natural world. Looking forward to reading it!
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Laura, thanks for reading. I agree this topic seems overwhelming but you’ve tacked some amazing ones too!
I’m loving the STEM group books!
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Love this concept! It does sound like an enormous amount of research, but what an interesting topic! Thanks for diving into this and I can’t wait to read it 💙
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Thanks for reading, Heather! Definitely more research than I’ve committed to, and I’m thrilled this book is now available for all our young scientists!
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Happy Book Birthday! The title of this book is excellent–so clever. I can’t wait to read your book and just added it to my Goodreads. I also love the ocean and Great Lakes too, which are much closer to visit for me.
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Danielle, thank you so much for reading! My daughter spent an entire summer collecting fossils, rocks, and other treasures on the shore of Lake Michigan so I am a Great Lakes person too! I think this book is going to be a wonderful addition to every book shelf.
Good luck in the giveaway!
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That photo—Classic! What an important book for kids (and adults) as we work to understand life on this amazing planet of ours. I am really looking forward to reading this one.
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Thanks for reading, Susan. I agree with you about the picture of Elizabeth. It’s so fun to see who the authors were when they were little. Good luck in the giveaway!
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This sounds like a fantastic STEM book! Congrats to Elizabeth on writing this beautiful book! And congrats to Fran for making the gorgeous pictures. Illustrating things in the ocean and making it somewhat realistic is tough, especially when the scale of life that needs to be shown is so dramatically different.
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Everything about this book is mind blowing! I’ve ordered it from my library and I’m looking forward to pouring over it soon. Good luck in the giveaway.
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How cute and interesting!
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Thanks for reading, Katie. I think this book is going to be a wonderful resource in classrooms. Good luck in the giveaway.
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“Out of the Blue” sounds wonderful, important, and so beautifully illustrated. Eager to read! My family has a special love for oceans–living in our landlocked state of CO–so we made sure to visit the sea to snorkel and observe throughout our children’s young years. Your childhood photograph is priceless–yes I can imagine it sums it all up!
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Thanks for reading, Carmela! This book really caught my attention and I’m sure your family will love it. Good luck in the giveaway.
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The artwork looks amazing!! And wow, a video series–what a fantastic idea! Watch out Wild Kratz Brothers, here comes Liz Shreeve! Looking forward to reading this and your sloth book, too! Congrats!
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Thanks for reading, Jennifer. Everything about this book is 🤩 💥 Good luck in the giveaway!
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I can’t wait to read this one! Congrats!
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Katy, thanks for reading. I was able to get OUT OF THE BLUE from my library yesterday, and it’s a banquet of information and science inspiration.
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Someone was asking about this book the other day on Twitter. Looking forward to seeing it!
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Thanks for reading, Beth. It’s really an amazing book worth picking up. Good luck in the giveaway.
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