So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly! Book Chat and Review with Jessica Fries-Gaither by Kathy Halsey

It’s always a treat when an author friend has a new book drop and wants to share it with the GROG. This week’s treat from Jessica Fries-Gaither, a nonfiction picture book, is a trick as well as a treat. Beware… some of the 20 animals featured in So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly, may even keep you up at night! Imagine rude, crude creatures like the Eastern Hognose snake, or Turkey vultures, or a Tongue-eating louse. If I have your attention, just imagine how kinder-middle schoolers will react to this book that shares unique animal behaviors even your Mom would look at in askance! 

Book Review

So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly is engaging “browseable” nonfiction that enables readers to dip in and out of content to focus on what interests them most. This feature is especially helpful for younger readers who may not be ready to tackle longer pieces of text and for school librarians interested in sparking curiosity for research projects.  As author, nonfiction expert Melissa Stewart says browseable nonfiction features “eye-catching design, lavishly illustrated along with short blocks of straightforward text.” Fries-Gaither’s newest from Millbrook Press combines unusual facts (Hippos throw their waste around!), compelling photographs, and great book design.

As a practicing science teacher for over 20 years, Jessica Fries-Gaither knows how to entice students and teach about animal behaviors simultaneously. She combines humor and employs the “ick” factor that elementary students love. Back matter with a glossary, further explanation of animal behavior, and list of books for further reading make this a winning book for kids and educators alike.

Craft Chat 

Jessica and I met up at the Ohioana Book Festival.

Kathy:  So Rude features so many animals behaving badly. How did you whittle down the list to the 20 most rude for the book? Which animal, in your opinion, has the highest "ick/cringe" factor? (For me, my husband and I agreed it’s the tongue-eating louse! Yikes!)

Jessica: I started my research process by brainstorming a list of rude behaviors (lying, cheating, stealing, etc.) and then looked for animals that exhibited them. That gave me a great place to start, and many of the 20 came from that process. I also tend to bookmark articles I find interesting and think I might be able to use someday in either my writing or teaching, and several animals came from that massive collection.

As for the highest “ick” factor, there’s no competition in my mind. The tongue-eating louse wins that gold medal. Everyone–from my critique group to the team at Millbrook–has commented something along the lines of “EWWWW!”

YIKES! It's the tongue-eating louse!

Kathy:I love the visual appeal of this book. For new nonfiction writers or those considering writing nonfiction, can you explain the structure idea adding speech bubbles, text boxes, and photographs to shape this book? Did you have input in the design, or did Millbrook Press/Lerner take the lead on this?

Jessica: I think the book is so visually appealing, and that’s all due to the Millbrook Press/Lerner team. The book is part of their photo-illustrated STEM series (the same series that my previous title, Nature’s Rule Breakers: Creatures That Don’t Fit In belongs to), so it was always going to include the captivating photographs. But the speech bubbles and text boxes were all thanks to the talented design team!

Kathy: Tell us about your research process for So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly. I know you'll have some great tips, since you spent last year as an Einstein Fellow at the Library of Congress! What are your favorite go-to science resources?

Jessica: I get a lot of ideas from popular science articles that land in my inbox or come across my social media feed: National Geographic, Science Daily, Live Science, etc. After reading those, I always try to track down the original scientific paper that the article was based on. I have a degree in biology, so making sure I understand the original findings and as many nuances as I can understand is important to me. Just check out my bibliography for the book! But I’m also not above Google searches for terms like “rude animals” when I get stuck! I cast a wide net and then make sure I read well on the specific examples I choose. 

Kathy: Review sources state that this book is aimed at preschoolers or readers ages 4-9. Since you're a practicing science educator and I'm a former middle grade teacher and K-12 school librarian, I'm interested in where you see this book fitting in both the curriculum and grade bands. I feel intermediate and middle school students would love this book.

Jessica: If I’m being completely honest, I was really surprised to see that preschool designation in the reviews. Millbrook/Lerner’s series is aimed at grades K-2, to the best of my knowledge, and I knew I was landing on the higher end of that range with some of the vocabulary and technical information I chose to include. In my experience, kids really enjoy the stretch in concepts and vocabulary that a read-aloud can provide, and you can always simplify a read-aloud for younger children.

From a curricular perspective, I think this fits well in both primary and upper elementary grades. The Next Generation Science Standards include Disciplinary Core Ideas around animal behavior in both 1st and 4th grades that align with the examples and message of the book. And while I find that picture books can be a tough sell to middle school students, I think they would definitely enjoy the content!

No one is behaving badly at Cover to Cover Books for Young Readers!

Kathy: So Rude just came out at the beginning of October. How are you celebrating and promoting this book? Tell us about school visits, bookstore events, and activities that educators and parents can access. Do you have an educator guide?

Jessica: I had a fun launch event at my favorite local independent children’s bookstore, Cover to Cover Books for Kids. In the month of November, I’ll be at the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster, OH on Saturday, November 1 and at Books By the Banks in Cincinnati on Saturday, November 15. Technically, I’m promoting another book at these events (Wild Wonderings: Scientists and Their Questions), but I’ll have a display copy of So Rude! and ordering information for those who are interested. 

Ironically, even though I’m a teacher, I haven’t created educator guides for my books. Perhaps I need to consider that as a future project.

About Jessica Frie-Gaither

Jessica is an experienced science educator and an award-winning author of books for students and teachers. Her titles include So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly, Nature's Rule Breakers: Creatures That Don't Fit In, Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings, Exemplary Evidence: Scientists and Their Data, Wild Wonderings: Scientists and Their Questions, and Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classrooms. She is currently a 2024-2025 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Library of Congress.

 

Jessica's Social Media Contacts

 www.jessicafriesgaither.com

https://www.facebook.com/jfriesgaither

Instagram @JessicaFGWrites

BlueSky: @jessicafgwrites.bsky.social

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fries-gaither-14407233/

Wild Wonderings & Craft Chat with Jessica Fries-Gaither, Author & Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow by Kathy Halsey

It’s always exciting to share a new book by an author I know personally. Jessica Fries-Gaither is not only an Ohio author and friend, she’s a great resource as both science teacher and now Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow for 2024-2025. 

Through her Fellowship, she’s learning about the Library of Congress collections that relate to science, and about the science being done at the Library in order to develop classroom materials, write for publications, participate in social media efforts, participate in professional development of educators, visit classrooms, and give presentations. 

Wild Wonderings Book Review

Her newest book, Wild Wonderings: Scientists and Their Questions, illustrated by Linda Olliver, is the perfect picture book to share with budding scientists to engage them in the steps before the scientific method. It all begins with curiosity and questions!  

Author Fries-Gaither explains that even though some questions can’t be answered by using the scientific method and acquiring data, it’s still important to ask them. From Thales of Greece through current day Columbian planetary geologist, Adriana Ocampo, readers discover  the questions that intrigued scientists over time, and how they went about finding answers through observation and even by accident. The author chose a group of nine diverse scientists, some well known and some not, to highlight. Kids will see themselves in the variety of topics and interests these scientists represent, too.

Educators and librarians will appreciate the strong back matter that includes the scientists profiled along with a short, interactive lesson that instructs readers to turn observations into questions, how to sort questions as research questions, observational, and testable questions. 

The engaging art, rhyming text, and extensive science and educational background of Fries-Gaither make this a must-purchase for teachers and school librarians alike.  While the publisher NSTA Kids recommends this picture book for grades: 3-5, as a former K-12 librarian, I know middle school teachers and students can also benefit from this book as a jumping off point for research and formulating questions.  

Craft Chat with Jessica Fries-Gaither 

Kathy: I notice you wrote the book in quatrains. Are these formal quatrains with strict meter and rhyme? The last stanza for each scientist is a rhyming couplet, which also acts as a refrain to emphasize why questions are important, correct? Did you experiment with prose first? Why poetry?

 

Jessica: First, the ten-million-dollar question: why poetry? The answer to that comes way back in 2013, when I started to work on the first book in this series, NOTABLE NOTEBOOKS: SCIENTISTS AND THEIR WRITINGS. I tried and tried, but the only way I could write it was in rhyme. For whatever reason, the manuscript just demanded poetry. And that wasn’t easy, given the technical vocabulary and scientist names. But I persevered and once NOTABLE NOTEBOOKS was published, the next two (EXEMPLARY EVIDENCE and now WILD WONDERINGS) had to follow the format.

 

As for the nitty-gritty details, no, these are not formal quatrains with strict meter and rhyme. I have a really hard time with meter—always have, since my high school studies of Shakespeare. Instead, the text is the product of me reading out loud and revising over and over. Maybe someday I’ll take a class and finally get the hang of it. Or maybe I’ll just never write in rhyme again! (Certain books require prose while others require the poetic treatment. I feel the quatrains make this a fun read! -Kathy)

And yes, the couplet is supposed to serve as conclusion/transition/reinforcement of the importance of questions.

 

Kathy: There are so many scientists throughout time, how did you decide which ones to include? Who would you have liked to include, but couldn't?

 

Jessica: Selecting scientists for all three of the books took some time, research, and reflection. Most importantly, I wanted to reflect the true diversity of science, including men and women from different cultures and different time periods. Representation is so critical in STEM, and so I was committed to doing that from the start. Also, I needed to find individuals whose work could be fairly easily summarized and accessible to elementary-aged students. And in the case of WILD WONDERINGS, I wanted to feature scientists who asked really compelling questions for kids. That led me to rule out some interesting people, but I don’t regret any of those choices.

Kathy: How did you begin your connection to NSTA? What suggestions would you give NF writers in writing for institutions and associations like NSTA?

 Jessica: While I’ve been a member of NSTA for my entire career as a science educator, my writing connection began in 2010 while I was working at Ohio State. Terry Shiverdecker, science specialist at the Ohio Resource Center, and I had created an inquiry-based, integrated science and literacy unit for a professional development workshop. We received really positive feedback from teachers and decided that we wanted to try and write a book full of such units. So we reached out to NSTA and proposed the concept. They were on board and we published INQUIRING SCIENTISTS, INQUIRING READERS in 2012. That success gave me the confidence to pitch NOTABLE NOTEBOOKS for their kids' imprint.

 

My advice to anyone wanting to write, for NSTA Press or any other publisher, is to do your homework and learn about the field. If you want to write for teachers, make sure you’re up-to-date on current research and pedagogical approaches. If you want to write for kids, make sure you’ve read a lot of current children’s nonfiction. Learn about the craft and ask when you have questions. The kid lit community is very welcoming and encouraging. And most importantly, don’t be afraid to pitch your idea!

Kathy:  Please share some of the highlights of your year-long residency as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Library of Congress. I know this could, and may be a book one day!

 

Jessica: I’m five months into an eleven-month fellowship, and I could fill several volumes with the highlights already. I’ve gotten to see some incredible scientific documents up close and personal, like Marie Tharp and Bruce Hezeen’s map of the ocean floor. I’ve been collaborating on a project with the Library’s Rare Books and Preservation departments--we’ve been scientifically analyzing the pigments in Maria Merian’s 1705 book, Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname. We have an entire Library blog post on the project coming out soon, so I don’t want to give too much away there. And I’ve been working with the Library’s Informal Learning office on content and children’s programming for The Source, a creative research experience for kids expected to open late 2025. It will be a great addition for our budding researchers!

 

Kathy:  What are some of your favorite resources that educators, authors, and school librarians may not know about from the LOC?

 

Jessica: First, I don’t know that people realize the breadth of the Library’s collection. It’s not just books--there are maps, prints & photographs, comic books, newspapers, and so much more. And the collection is not solely made up of items from the United States—there are extensive international collections as well. After all, the LOC is the world’s largest library!

Every department in the Library has its own blog, which is a great way to get a feel for the incredible diversity of collections housed here.

The Library offers a terrific three-day, in-person professional development workshop for educators each summer. I participated before becoming an Albert Einstein fellow, and it is truly some of the best professional development of my career. There are also a number of online resources available as well.

 

People may also not know that anyone 16 years or older can register for a free readers card, which allows access to the Library’s reading rooms and collections. And for those not in the DMV area, the “Ask a Librarian” feature is unmatched. The librarians here are some of the most curious, interesting, and helpful people I’ve ever encountered. They will happily help you conduct whatever type of research you are interested in. The Library truly belongs to each and every one of us—take advantage of it!

 

Kathy: What other exciting upcoming events are you especially looking forward to during this year in Washington DC? 

 

Jessica: Some of the events I’ve enjoyed the most have been unexpected, so it’s hard to answer this question. I am looking forward to the cherry blossom festival, although I’ve been warned about the massive crowds. I’m really just excited to take advantage of as many opportunities as I can—both big and small—for the rest of my time here!

 

About Jessica Frie-Gaither

Jessica is an experienced science educator and an award-winning author of books for students and teachers. Her titles include Nature's Rule Breakers: Creatures That Don't Fit In, Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings, Exemplary Evidence: Scientists and Their Data, Wild Wonderings: Scientists and Their Questions, and Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classrooms. She is currently a 2024-2025 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Library of Congress.

 

Jessica's Social Media Contacts

 

www.jessicafriesgaither.com

https://www.facebook.com/jfriesgaither

Instagram @JessicaFGWrites

BlueSky: @jessicafgwrites.bsky.social

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fries-gaither-14407233/

 

Be a "Rule Breaker" with Jessica Fries-Gaither and Nature’s Rule Breakers: Animals that Don’t Fit In by Kathy Halsey

What fun to be interviewing an Ohio author and SCBWI friend, Jessica Fries-Gaither this week for the GROG! We both love NF picture books and are educators. I’ve always admired the gorgeous books that come from Millbrook Press and editor Carol Hinz! Let’s take a look at Nature’s Rule Breakers: Animals that Don’t Fit In. 

Book Review

There’s still such a market for engaging science nonfiction, and Nature’s Rule Breakers: Animals that Don’t Fit In fits perfectly onto a school library shelf, a teacher’s bookshelf, or in the hands of curious kids who love unusual creatures. As Kirkus says this is “not your ordinary display of interesting and appealing animals, this offering has an important message for young readers and the adults who care for them."

Author-science teacher Fries-Gaither has crafted a lyrical, engaging book with questions that hook the reader and an SEL theme that can also be a point of discussion in a classroom/library setting. That theme applies to the animal kingdom as well as with humans– no one fits the parameters of rules perfectly. That quality makes us unique. As Jessica states in her newest picture book, “Some rules are meant to be broken, even those in the animal kingdom”! 

As a proud rule breaker, an “inbetweener” who has felt that I don't belong, this is an affirming book for more than the target audience of 5 - 9 years, K - 3.  Go find out more about garden snails, tardigrades, and Sacoglossan sea slugs and other inbetweeners. This is an engaging, informative read with useful backmatter that will delight educators! 

Craft Chat wit Jessica Fries-Gaither 

Kathy: I’m always curious about the “process” of how text changes over time to become a publishable piece. In your first drafts of Rule Breakers did you write straight exposition and add all the lyrical elements later? Was it ever written in rhyme? 

Lines like “This feathered flier is crepuscular, swooping silently through sky at dusk or dawn” are so poetic, full of consonance and assonance. How did you arrive at this lyrical version and prose like it throughout the book? 

Jessica: My initial drafts were almost entirely straight exposition. I’m a science teacher by day, and so my “voice,” both in the classroom and on the page tends to be clear and matter of fact when I’m trying to explain a concept. Thankfully critique partners and editor Carol Hinz pushed me to jazz up the language to make it more engaging! 

Lyrical nonfiction is my absolute favorite, and it’s something I’m continually working on in my own writing practice.

As for rhyme…no. I’ve previously published two rhyming picture books with NSTA Kids, and it will take a special topic for me to want to go through that again. 

Kathy: The use of questions on spreads is another active aspect of your diction in Rule Breakers. How do questions help a reader connect with nonfiction?

Jessica: Again, I think this flows naturally from my life as a teacher. I spend my days asking kids questions to help them figure out and understand science concepts. I find that kids can rush through things, whether it be thinking through an idea or reading a book. Posing questions encourages them to pause, reflect, and engage more deeply with the content. 

Kathy: Ah, I love that “pause, reflect, engage deeply”. That is what scientists do! On another note, I’m curious if there has been any pushback with your inclusion of living things moving between female and male behaviors, such as the garden snail or even terminology such as “hermaphrodite.” The facts are true, but some adults are hypersensitive to word connotations in our “politicalized” world. As a writer, did these issues come up as you wrote?

Jessica: Including sex as a category was a very conscious choice on my part, and I chose to place those examples later in the book to allow readers to get comfortable with the rule-breaking concept before tackling it. The only note I’ve received on this to date was from a colleague who read an early draft and mentioned that the use of “hermaphrodite” with regard to intersex humans is stigmatizing and offensive. We talked about the differences between the use of the word to describe an animal like a snail versus a human and I ultimately felt okay about leaving it in (and apparently, so did my editor). Sadly, though, given today’s climate, I can’t say I will be surprised if some pushback arises. Disappointed and perhaps angry? Absolutely. But not surprised. 

Kathy: I am glad you took a stand and left the spread with “hermaphrodites” in. BRAVO. I’ve never thought about species that don’t fit in. Where’d you get this original idea? How did you decide which animals to include? Were there others that you didn’t include? Was there a process of elimination by you, your agent, or editor?  The photos are quite compelling, too. Did the “coolness” or “strangeness” of the creature make it a contender for the book?

Jessica: Believe it or not, my inspiration came from a tweet that simply read “Biology isn’t binary.” (Had I known where that tweet would lead me, I would have taken a screenshot of it back in 2021!) I kept thinking about it long after I liked and retweeted it, especially in the context of the way we teach kids about living things. It seemed like there was an opportunity for me to show them a new way to think.

I started brainstorming examples with a friend and science colleague and we came up with so many examples. Not just animals, but plants and human biology as well. It’s interesting to go back and look at my early drafts because there wasn’t a clear focus yet. Rounds of feedback from critique partners helped me start to narrow my focus. I worked on this manuscript with author Sara C. Levine in a virtual revision workshop through SCBWI Ohio North, and her expertise and feedback helped me continue to narrow. Some examples were more compelling than others, and the nuances of some categories proved to be too difficult to explain in the concise picture book format. 

I don’t know if I consciously considered “coolness” or “strangeness” of an animal besides my own interest in it. My editor and I had some discussion about whether or not to include the sea slug, but I pushed to keep it in because I’m fascinated and a little obsessed with them. Google “leaf sheep sea slug” to see why! I do know, though, that while I love mammals and birds as much as the next person, I challenge my students to learn about other types of animals as well. I’m sure that perspective influenced some of my selection process, whether conscious or not. 

Kathy: Have you begun author visits yet? I bet kids will love the “coolness” and "strangeness” of these rule breakers. So, how do the kids react to the creatures? What are their favorites? Any tips to pass on to GROG readers via school visits?

Jessica: I’m doing a “visit” with my own students this week—gotta take advantage of a built-in audience—and have a virtual visit scheduled with a school in California next month. So I don’t have visits to draw on yet, but I think they’ll be fascinated. And ironically, even though I’ve been in the audience for many an author visit, I’m feeling very much a newbie when it comes to being on the other side of the microphone! 

Kathy: What are you working on now? Please share any virtual presentations or in-person events that are on your fall-winter calendar.

Jessica: My writing always slows down in the late summer and fall with the return to teaching and coaching middle school volleyball. I’ve been working on a proposal for a middle grade science nonfiction book that I’m excited about getting back to. I’ve learned that November-March is a typically productive time for me as a writer, and I am excited to see what comes from it this year.

I will be at the NCTE conference (here in Columbus) November 16-18. I’m part of a panel discussion, All Hands-On Deck: Creating an Active, Climate-Literate School Community with authors Keila Dawson, Jeanette Bradley, Laura Gehl, Lindsay Metcalf, and fellow educator Alex Edelmann, although my involvement is around the books I’ve published with NSTA on science notebooks. I will have a book signing foNature’s Rule Breakers at the Lerner Booth (Booth 307) from 1:30-2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 18. 

I have other presentations and conferences focused on my writing for science teachers, but not much for Nature’s Rule Breakers, yet . . .

Check out Jessica's professional books for educators, too!

Jessica is an experienced science educator and an award-winning author of books for students and teachers. Her titles include Nature's Rule Breakers: Creatures That Don't Fit In, Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings, Exemplary Evidence: Scientists and Their Drawings, and Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classrooms.

Find Jessica here!

website: https://www.jessicafriesgaither.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jfriesgaither

Instagram: @JessicaFGWrites

X (for now): @JessicaFGWrites

Blue Sky: @jessicafgwrites.bsky.social