The award-winning About… series launches new monolingual Spanish editions with Sobre los mamíferos: Una guía para niños and Sobre los pájaros: Una guía para niños! These thoughtful first-glimpses into the world of these fascinating creatures provide young Spanish-speaking readers a chance to learn more about the natural world.

In Sobre los mamíferos, author Cathryn Sill answers the first questions of young naturalists by explaining the characteristics of what mammals, including what they are, how they live, and what they do. Noted wildlife illustrator John Sill depicts the charm of this wide class of animals―including the large Blue Whale, the small American Pika, and humans―with his beautiful realistic paintings. An afterword provides further details about the animals, inspiring young readers to learn more.

“Pre-school and primary-grade teachers will find this an attractive choice for units on mammals.” ―Booklist

“A quality book for introducing mammals, it is also well bound and worthy of addition to the young reader’s library.” ―NSTA Recommends

“The paintings draw viewers in with their warmth, charm, and accuracy…. This is ideal for storytimes…” ―School Library Journal

In Sobre los pájaros, learn about basic information about birds with simple, easy-to-understand language. The accompanying illustrations showcases the diversity of this fascinating category, from the recognizable American Robin and Ruby-throated Hummingbird, to the Bald Eagle and the Greater Roadrunner. The afterword offers more facts about birds, and more back matter includes a glossary and sources for young readers to continue their studies.

“Exceptionally detailed and uniformly accurate…the Sills succeed admirably.” ―School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“The full-color illustrations by wildlife artist John Sill are so lifelike that one almost expects the birds to fly off the pages…a wonderful visual introduction…” ―Booklist

“Fifteen exquisite, scrupulously accurate watercolors of birds in their habitats are captioned by a deceptively simple text…An excellent concept book that takes its young audience seriously while skillfully providing the basics of an important subject.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“An age-appropriate amount of text on each page is accompanied by beautiful, watercolor illustrations of each bird. More advanced readers and their mentors might appreciate the afterword, containing more detailed information on the birds depicted in the main body of the book.”
―NSTA Recommends

For more information and resources for the About… and About Habitats series, check out the series pages! To learn more about the creation of their beautiful and informative books, hear Cathryn and John discuss the inspiration for their work, and watch John Sill’s process of his watercolor illustrations in the videos below.

Look for Sobre los mamíferos: Una guía para niños and Sobre los pájaros: Una guía para niños on Amazon or at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble starting February 1!

Have you ever noticed the sound of persistent pecking on your house or a nearby tree? About Woodpeckers written by Cathryn Sill and illustrated by John Sill gives young readers a first look at the fascinating and surprisingly diverse world of woodpeckers.

In this newest addition to the About… series, author Cathryn Sill provides information about the common characteristics of these special birds and offers details about how and why they use their beaks to drill and peck at hard surfaces. With the help of beautifully detailed illustrations from noted wildlife instructor John Sill, About Woodpeckers brings 19 different species of woodpeckers to life. An afterword, glossary, and list of resources provide more details about the woodpeckers portrayed in the illustrations. From depicting their various habitats to the kinds of materials that each type of bird likes to peck, this informative read is sure to capture the interest of all curious young minds and budding birders.

“Transports the reader directly into the lives of these amazing forest carpenters…the images are worthy of framing. A delightful read.”
—Stephen A. Shunk, author of the Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America

Take a peek at some of the beautifully detailed illustrations below, and don’t forget to check out the About… series page for more books in this award-winning series and the series Teacher’s Guide for ideas on how to use the information in the classroom!

I have always loved nature and was fortunate to grow up with parents who encouraged me to experience the many wonders of creation. We had family adventures in various habitats including camping trips to mountains, deserts, forests, and seashores. Sunday afternoons in spring and summer were often spent in the woods looking for wildflowers and birds.

John and I are birders, so most of our travel involves looking for birds. While we don’t often travel specifically to research the books we create, many of our opportunities for travel research have been coincidental. We crossed the prairie on a trip to an event to display John’s paintings. We just happened to be working on About Habitats: Grasslands so he was able to observe and photograph ideas to use in his illustrations.

About Habitats is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with About Habitats: Seashores! Get ready to feel the sand between your toes in the newest installment of Cathryn and John Sill’s award-winning nonfiction series.

Very young readers will learn about the fascinating ecology of where the ocean meets the land through simple, descriptive language and beautiful, accurate illustrations as they explore the varying coastlines all around the world. Some are rocky, some are muddy, and some are sandy. The special characteristics of seashores and the enchanting wildlife that live there will spark the interest of young scientists, encouraging them to take care of this increasingly threatened habitat.

An afterword, glossary, and list of resources provide more details about each of the illustrations, including how sand is created, why there are high and low tides, and why certain animals thrive in this particular environment. Teachers can use the precise and comprehensive back matter to assist with instruction for younger readers, and older children can help themselves to a plethora of fascinating knowledge and expand their nature vocabulary. There is also a teacher’s guide available for the whole About Habitats series, and be sure to check out all the titles in the About Habitats series as well as the About series. 

“The beautifully designed layout and succinct text combine with the back matter to offer very accessible nonfiction reading for the very young as well as early grade students.” —Kirkus Reviews

“With reliable information and attractive illustrations, this volume is a useful addition to a series celebrating its tenth year.” —Booklist

Don’t forget to enter our GoodReads giveaway for a chance to win an early copy of the book!

Look for About Habitats: Seashores on August 1st at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble.

A whole slew of new and wonderful books are on the horizon (check out our full Fall 2017 list) which means it’s time for some giveaways. The first giveaway of the season is the gorgeous picture book About Habitats: Seashores from the award-winning author-illustrator duo Cathryn Sill and John Sill.

About Habitats: Seashores is the eighth book in the About Habitats Series, marking ten years since the first title in the series came out! With simple, easy-to-understand language, this beginner’s guide explores the major attributes of seashores and showcases their remarkable diversity using examples from around the globe. Learn more about these titles in the series Teacher’s Guide.

Enter for your chance to win a copy in our GoodReads Giveaway! The giveaway will last one week, so make sure you enter soon!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

About Habitats

by Cathryn P Sill

Giveaway ends July 28, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Photo credit: Cathryn Sill

Since Antarctica is on the other side of the world and the cost would wreck havoc on our budget, we decided to visit the Arctic. We were there in the summer so the sun never set. Our sleep patterns were disrupted, but because of unlimited daylight we would look for birds and explore without the added pressure of getting finished by dark. Watching Snowy Owls in the beautiful “butter light” at 2:00 am was an experience to remember. When we got tired enough to sleep, we would just close the blinds, turn off the lights, and pretend it was bedtime.

Snowy Owl (photo credit: Cathryn Sill)

A species of bird that we featured in About Habitats: Polar Regions was the Arctic Tern. We really enjoyed watching and photographing them. It was amazing to realize that in just a few weeks they would begin a long journey to Antarctica to spend the summer there. That doesn’t sound like a summer vacation!

Left: Arctic Tern (photo credit: Cathryn Sill) Right: Arctic Terns, from About Habitats: Polar Regions

Many of the drab-looking shorebirds such as Pectoral Sandpipers that we see on the beach in winter were in the Arctic in the summer wearing their fancier breeding plumage. They were also performing “over to top” courtship rituals that were comical to us but obviously attractive to another bird.

Pectoral Sandpiper (photo credit: Cathryn Sill)

One of the nesting birds featured in the book was the American Golden Plover. Seeing this bird wandering around on the tundra was the inspiration for the illustration.

Left: American Golden Plover (photo credit: Cathryn Sill) Right: American Golden Plover, from About Habitats: Polar Regions

One of our big wishes for this trip was to see Muskoxen. What a treat to look up on a hill and see a herd of them silhouetted. They thundered past us and we were concerned that we were disturbing them. When they stopped just beyond us and began feeding we realized they weren’t at all concerned about us.

Left: Muskoxen (photo credit: Cathryn Sill) Right: Muskoxen, from About Habitats, Polar Regions

About Habitats: Polar Regions can be found at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble.

For the About Habitats series Teacher’s Guide, click here.

Here’s a sneak peek into the future: bundle up for Fall 2015 Polar Regions!

Husband wife team John and Cathryn Sill just stopped by our offices to share their latest work, inspired by their recent trip to Alaska, though you’ll find Antarctic as well as Arctic here.  Maybe you envision stark white landscapes, sometimes dotted with black and white penguins and whales, but John painted with all of the colors in his palette.

I don’t want to spoil the page turns of Fall 2015, but here are some snapshots of the lovingly rendered animals you’ve come to expect in the About Series.  They are neither stiff scientific illustrations nor the awkwardly anthropomorphic, but that successful place in between where anatomically correct animals still have soul and life.  John paints them perfectly into their polar environments, and that’s what is so dazzling about this title.  Maybe it’s because John shared his watercolor technique, but maybe it’s because you didn’t expect the sweeping landscapes of the polar extremes to be so colorful.

Top row: bikini ready Southern Elephant Seal, a southern region sky, baby Chinstrap Penguins (aww!)
Bottom row: Art Director Loraine Joyner likes the aurora australis, the whole book at once