Laya Steinberg - Author
All Around Me, I See
Children's book author and experienced organic gardener, Laya believes in educating children to become "stewards of the environment."
Jennifer Ward - Author
Forest Bright, Forest Night
Jennifer Ward, an accomplished children's book author, says: "I knew when I first checked out Dawn's website prior to sending my manuscript their way and saw employees with their dogs, that I was dealing with a great group of folk."
Jamichael Henterly - Illustrator
Forest Bright, Forest Night
In addition to being an award-winning children's illustrator, Jamichael is a K-12 educator and art teacher, volunteer firefighter/EMT, a fire lookout for the U.S. Forest Service, and a former paratrooper in the US Army!
Laya Steinberg grew up in the garden. Her parents exposed her and her siblings to nature through hiking, gardening and art. As a child, she spent summers camping, roaming through forests, and playing by rivers and lakes. "Now that I have children of my own," she says, "I find it even more important to educate children to be stewards of nature."
Laya has been an organic gardener for years and spent many hours with her children at an organic farm in their neighborhood. There she learned about the subtle balances that exist in any ecosystem and the interconnectedness of all life.
 She says, "Since designing, fundraising and building an outdoor classroom at my childrens' elementary school, I've had the opportunity to teach students about some of the connections in nature. At times it's like unfolding a mystery . . . invariably they are surprised and excited by what they learn.
"I wrote All Around Me, I See as an effort to explore the beauty and connectedness of nature using terms a child can relate to, and appealing to their natural sense of curiosity about the world around them."
Laya has written another successful children's book, (Thesaurus Rex, Barefoot Books) and says that working with Dawn is a "truly rewarding experience." She values that we share the same mission of teaching children about the earth and nature. She says, "Dawn produces such high quality books–I am proud to be associated with such a great company, and I hope to keep contributing to the list of beautiful books."
Jennifer Ward is not a stranger to writing wonderful picture books for children. In her words, writing about nature comes "second nature" to her. Her home of 20 years in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, has provided great access to nature and wildlife in her own backyard.
"I love the outdoors and spending time in nature and learning about our natural world. And I love the language of children's literature and children's books, so it is natural to combine those two passions into one wonderful element," says Jennifer. And wonderful it is! Three out of her four formerly-published books with Rising Moon have won awards: Way Out in the Desert (1998 Arizona State Honor Picture Book), Somewhere in the Ocean (2000 Parents' Choice Award), and The Seed and the Giant Saguaro (2003 Southwest Book of the Year).
Her brand new book, Forest Bright, Forest Night is also getting a lot of notoriety. It is an ABA Book Sense Summer 2005 Children's Pick, and Children's Literature says "If you have ever wanted a great nature book for children, this is it." With the book just released in March of this year, we're sure more praise is to come for this unique flip-book about nocturnal/diurnal animals of the forest.
We are pleased to have Jennifer be a part of our accomplished team of authors! And apparently, the feeling is mutual. Jennifer says, "Working with Dawn has been delightful and insightful.
"...You know what I found to be pretty cool? Dawn shared Jamichael's preliminary sketches with me, which varied quite a bit from the final book. It was interesting to see how his sketches morphed via revisions: the change of a skyline, the angle of a fox's head, the position of the moon. Pretty neat.
"Oh, and by the way... I still haven't found all of the hidden numbers on each page. They are tricky! I especially love the tiny, little number six hidden inside the squirrel's ear."
Jamichael has a lot of duties on his plate, but he still found time to apply an extraordinary attention to detail in his new picture book, Forest Bright, Forest Night. Each clever page spread is a vibrant setting of forest animals in their natural habitats, by day and night.
An array of hidden animals and numbers is featured in Jamichael's artwork for this book. For each number of animals awake during the day, the same number of nocturnal animals are sleeping in the same spread, and vice-versa for night. As the author Jennifer Ward alludes to above, finding the hidden numbers is a fun activity for adults and children alike! When Jamichael substituted for his wife in her kindergarten classroom, he read the book to them and said they were "falling all over each other trying to spot the hidden numerals."
A long-time naturalist, Jamichael says "I strive to capture in my artwork the same beauty and wonder that captivates and excites me as an observer of nature." Living on 20 rural acres in Washington along a wild river and spending summers on remote fire lookouts keeps Jamichael constantly "attuned with the wonders of viewing and living closely with nature on a daily basis."
When asked about his experience in illustrating Forest Bright, Forest Night, Jamichael explains: "I enjoy portraying animals accurately while at the same time imbuing them with some sense of human emotion that helps children more easily relate to their lives.
"I particularly enjoy trying to capture animals in images true to their nature, as that was what the very first illustrators strived to
do as much as 40,000 years ago--it seems such an honor to still be doing the same work. I think it honors Nature to capture its truths. As William Wordsworth put it so well, 'Let Nature be your teacher.'
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