Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs is a book about anti-superlatives. Instead of focusing on the world’s biggest, fastest, strongest animals, my goal was to shine a light on creatures that are small or slow or shy or clumsy, but still manage to survive—and thrive.

As I was researching, my goal was to identify animals that could be classified as “underdogs” because they have characteristics or behaviors that humans might consider weaknesses. But, in fact, those perceived flaws are the secret to the animals’ survival success.

Educators like the book because it has a lively, playful voice and can be used in two ways. First of all, it’s perfect for science units about animal adaptations. Young readers really get excited about some of the book’s interesting and surprising examples.

The book’s gentle message of respecting one another and celebrating differences can also help teachers ease into conversations about bullying and other interpersonal conflicts that they may have noticed in their classroom. Even though the message is subtle, kids get it. And they often find themselves relating strongly to one of the animals in the book.

I had both of these uses in mind as I was writing Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers, and I’m delighted that teachers find these aspects of the book valuable. But what has surprised me about the book is students’ fascination with discovering and learning about animals that are completely new to them.

For some reason, it never occurred to me that creatures like the shy okapi, the stinky hoatzin, and the tiny Etruscan pygmy shrew would be unfamiliar to young readers, and they would want to know more, more, more—much more than we could squeeze into the back matter—about these captivating critters.

As soon as we realized our readers’ desire for more information, the folks at Peachtree and I put our heads together and developed an awesome downloadable Meet the Underdogs poster to accompany the book. I’m happy to report that kids love it.

I’ve also been delighted with all the ways teachers are using the book in writer’s workshop. Thanks to social media, elementary educators have let me know that they are using Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers to help students identify the theme or concept of a nonfiction book. They’re also using it as a mentor text to model voice, word choice, strong verbs, varying sentence length, direct address, imbedded questions, alliteration, and internal rhyme.

Wow, teachers are so clever! Sometimes they see things in my writing that I’m not even aware of. There’s always more to learn about the craft of nonfiction writing.

If you’re a teacher who’s using Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers or one of my books in your classroom, please let me know via Twitter, Facebook, or email. I love hearing these stories.

Melissa Stewart is the award-winning author of more than 180 science books for children. She has always been fascinated by the natural world and is passionate about sharing its beauty and wonder with readers of all ages. For more resources for Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers, also check out the teacher’s guide and readers’ theater. Find this book at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble. How are you using Pipsqueaks, Slopwokes, and Stinkers in your classroom or with your readers? Let us know!

Q: When did your passion for nature start? Did you spend a lot of time exploring the outdoors as a child?

A: Yes. My parents owned 10 acres of land on one side of the street, and there was a national forest on the other side. We had a meadow and a stream and all the woods a child could ever want. My brother and I spent most of our childhood playing outdoors. It’s probably no surprise that I became a science writer, and he became a wetlands specialist and environmental consultant.

Q: You’ve written more than 190 nonfiction books about science for children. How do you continue coming up with fresh, original ideas?

A: Ideas are everywhere. Every time I see or hear or read something new, I ask questions, and new book ideas emerge. The trick is figuring out which ones have the most potential and then keeping track of them.

I have an idea board in my office. When it’s time to start a new book, I look at all the scraps of paper with ideas scrawled on them and pick the one that excites me the most.

Q: What inspired Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers?

A: I’ve been fascinated by animal superlatives for as long as I can remember. After all, who doesn’t admire the world’s biggest, fastest, strongest creatures? But in early 2013, I began thinking about anti-superlatives—the smallest, slowest, weakest animals. Maybe I could write a book about them.

One morning, I woke up with the beginning of the book in my head and ran to my notebook. Later, as I typed the text into a computer file, I realized that this wasn’t going to be just an anti-superlative book. It was going to be an anti-bullying book too. And to write it, I’d have to revisit some painful parts of my childhood. This was going to be a book only I could write, but it would come at a price, and that scared me. So I shut the file.

Six months later, I convinced myself to just add some research notes to the file. I wasn’t writing. I was just assembling information. Eventually, I could see that all the pieces were falling into place, and I finally felt brave enough to write the ending. I was committed.

After finishing the middle of the book, I shared “Smallest, Slowest, Weakest” with my writing group. They pointed out plenty of problems, but author-illustrator Steve Anderson saw my vision clearly and gave me an incredible gift—the title Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers.

In December 2014, I did a week of school visits in Summit, NJ. Each day after school, I dug into the manuscript. All that time with no distractions really paid off. By the time I went home, the manuscript was ready for submission.

Q: Do you have a favorite animal underdog?

A: I was a clumsy, uncoordinated, unathletic kid, so the western fence lizard is kind of my hero. See how its “weakness” helps it catch prey? Let’s face it. Eating is pretty important if you want to stay alive, and this lizard has come up with a completely unique way to get the job done.

Q: How did you approach research for this book?

A: It’s not hard to identify animals that are small or slow or lazy (sleep a lot), but it’s much trickier to pinpoint animals that are shy or clumsy or odd looking. To find all the examples I needed, I did a TON of general reading about animal behavior with the underdog lens in mind. Over time, the perfect candidates slowly merged.

Q: What does your writing process look like?

A: It’s different for every book. Since I knew the hook of this book (anti-superlatives/animal underdogs) very early in the process, and the beginning and voice came to me in a flash, the biggest challenges were flow, rhythm, and pacing, which are all interrelated.

First, I needed to answer a few key questions:

• How many animals should I include in the book?
• Which underdog traits warranted multiple animal examples and which needed only one?
• In what order should the animals/traits be presented? What was the underlying logic of the flow?

Initially, I made decisions based on these questions on my own. But with the expert guidance of my editor, Vicky Holifield, and I thought about them more deeply as we refined the manuscript.

Since we wanted to keep the fabulous title Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers, we decided that the first half of the book would focus on ways animals use their perceived weaknesses to avoid enemies. The second half would highlight animals that use their underdog traits to get food and/or survive in their habitat. I created a chart to help me stay on track. Once this big-picture revision was done, I focused on close revision—looking at every single word in an effort to be as precise as possible while maintaining the playful voice.

My favorite piece of art is the back cover. I don’t think there has ever been a picture book with an animal group portrait that showed the fronts of the animal’s bodies on the front cover and the backs of their bodies on the back cover. It’s ingenious. I also love that the naked mole rats are collecting the lines in the bar code, as if they’re sticks to eat. That’s hilarious!

Q: This book has a subtle but important message of understanding and celebrating differences. Was this message something that drove your creative process from the start, or did the message develop over time while writing the book?

A: It was there from the start. In a recent article, children’s book author Laura Purdie Salas says: “…there’s a common, crushing misconception that fiction is creative writing drawn from the depths of a writer’s soul, while nonfiction is simply a recitation of facts that any basic robot could spit out. The reality is very different. I think my personality, my beliefs, and my experiences are deeply embedded in the books I end up writing.”

I couldn’t agree more! Even though the information in Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers is presented in a fun way, the book’s central nugget, its creative core is serious. I was severely bullied as a child, and this book is my way of offering hope to children who might be facing something similar right now.

Everyday across America, children get picked on for being small or slow or shy or overweight or clumsy, but sometimes these perceived flaws turn out to be a core part of what makes them successful adults. Using examples from the animal world, I encourage children to flip their thinking, and to be kind to one another.

Q: You are a big supporter of children reading various forms of nonfiction writing. Why is it important for young readers to be exposed to a wide variety of nonfiction?

A: Most people who choose to be children’s librarians and literacy educators value and connect strongly with stories and storytelling. And it’s natural for them to assume that all young readers feel the same way. But a growing body of research shows that about 42 percent of elementary students prefer expository nonfiction over fiction and narrative nonfiction. An additional 33 percent enjoy narrative and expository texts equally. If we want students to thrive as readers, we need to give them access to the kinds of books they’re most likely to fall in love with. That’s why every classroom and school library should include a rich, diverse selection of narrative and expository books.

Q: In an article for School Library Journal, you map out five different categories of nonfiction. Which category would Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers fall into?

It’s expository literature. The book highlights a narrowly-focused STEM concept (how body features and behaviors help an animal survive) and has an expository writing style. It’s a list book with a compare and contrast text structure; a lively, lighthearted voice that frequently incorporates direct address; and rich language, such as vivid verbs, playful nouns, alliteration, metaphors, internal rhyme, and onomatopoeia.

Q: What are some ways educators can use your book in the classroom?

A: I’ve created a meaty Teacher’s Guide as well as a Readers Theater to accompany Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers. The Teacher’s Guide includes an animal survival activity that supports the Next Generation Science Standards and language arts activities that focus on text features, point of view in nonfiction writing, and how authors and illustrators interact to create nonfiction art that is beautiful and accurate.

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers will be at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble September 1! Check out the book trailer,  Teacher’s Guide, Readers Theater, and Meet the Animal Underdogs: Vital Stats and Map resources. 

You  might know who some of the biggest or strongest animals are, but what about the smallest or slowest? Do you know which animal is so stinky, it smells worse than cow manure? Well, it’s time to celebrate these underdogs in the animal world! Take a lighthearted look at the surprising traits that help some animals survive in Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs.

Written with a lively, engaging voice, this nonfiction picture book introduces young readers to a variety of animals that might be known for more negative-sounding qualities, like being “lazy” or “clumsy.” Using humorous yet informative text, award-winning author Melissa Stewart explains how these characteristics that might seem like weaknesses actually can be critical for survival in the animal kingdom. Stephanie Laberis’s bright, bold—and scientifically accurate—illustrations add to the fun. While offering interesting facts about real animals, this book also provides a gentle message of understanding and celebrating differences found in everyone, human or animal.

Starting September 1 we will be introducing some of these fascinating animals and what makes them so special. Follow along on Twitter and Instagram to meet some animal underdogs from Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers!

“Friendly and approachable, this compendium is sure to create some new favorites in the animal kingdom.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The point that every animal, no matter how seemingly weak, has ‘its own special way of surviving’ is effectively made. The narrative also offers discussion-encouraging questions, and the lively painted portraits depict the animals fairly realistically, placing them in simplified natural settings, sometimes with a humorous touch.” —Booklist

 Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers is going on a blog tour next week! Don’t miss the stops along the way!
Librarian’s Quest
Pragmatic Mom
Great Kid Books
Nonfiction Detectives
Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook

Find Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers on Amazon or at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble September 1! And be sure to check out the Teacher’s Guide, Readers Theater, and Meet the Animal Underdogs: Vital Stats and Map resources.

But what are some ways to use a title like this in the library, classroom, or home?

In addition to your favorite bloggers (like Two Writing Teachers, who include Beneath the Sun in their 10 Math and Science Topic Choice Mentors for read alouds and writing prompts) and Pinterest searches, the Peachtree website and blog shares some great resources, too.

We’ve shared a Teacher Guide for Beneath the Sun as well as Melissa Stewart’s other titles When Rain Falls  and Under the Snow. (Check out all of our Teacher Guides here.)  If you really want the book to come alive, consider doing a Readers Theater, script available here.

Stewart also shares a wealth of fabulous activities on her Science Clubhouse Website for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and homeschoolers, including a Teacher Guide and Mini Video Lesson. Speaking of your favorite bloggers, check out Stewart’s Celebrate Science Blog for innovative resources for teaching science and tips for writing nonfiction. She’s on Pinterest, too, and shares plenty of teaching ideas and resources for using the title in the classroom.

What are you favorite bloggers and resources?