NICOLSON, Cynthia Pratt 1949-

PERSONAL: Born August 2, 1949, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; married Donald Nicolson (an architect); children: Sara, Ian, Vanessa. Education: University of Winnipeg, B.Sc. Hobbies and other interests: Kayaking, snow-shoeing.

ADDRESSES: Home—Box C-5 Bowen Island, British Columbia VON 1GO, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and elementary school teacher.

AWARDS, HONORS: Shortlisted for Silver Birch, Red Cedar, and Hackmatack awards; science-writing award, American Institute of Physics, 2001, for Exploring Space.

WRITINGS:

for children

Earthdance: How Volcanoes, Earthquakes, TidalWaves, and Geysers Shake Our Restless Planet, illustrated by Bill Slavin, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

The Earth, illustrated by Bill Slavin, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

The Stars, illustrated by Bill Slavin, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

The Planets, illustrated by Bill Slavin, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Comets, Asteroids, and Meteorites, illustrated by Bill Slavin, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Exploring Space, illustrated by Bill Slavin, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Baa! The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read about Genes and Cloning, illustrated by Rose Cowles, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Volcano! Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Earthquake! Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Hurricane! Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Tornado! Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

Contributor to Owl magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Cynthia Pratt Nicolson Nicolson writes science books for children that are filled with information stretching across the breadth of her chosen subjects. For example, in Baa! The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read about Genes and Cloning, she offers discussions of Mendel, cells, chromosomes, and DNA, provides anecdotes about famous cases where DNA testing has proven crucial, and details simple experiments that students can do themselves in order to bring the science under discussion to life. Dolly, the first successfully cloned sheep, provides the book's title. "Though she doesn't quite get to everything," noted a contributor to Kirkus Reviews, "she does give readers the big picture." Likewise, Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan remarked that Nicolson's "explanation of scientific concepts are brief, but surprisingly clear." For Quill & Quire reviewer Sheree Haughian, Baa! has the benefit of being both enjoyable to read and a practical guide for students and science teachers. Haughian dubbed this book "certainly the first engaging book for children about the topic."

Responses to Nicolson's other science books for children, created in a similar format, have been similarly positive. Her book Exploring Space, which received a science-writing award from the American Institute of Physics, discusses this vast subject in a series of brief chapters covering the ancients' relationship to the stars, the invention of the telescope, space travel, and developments in the arena of human dwellings in space. As in her other books, "coverage is broad rather than deep," remarked Phelan in Booklist. Relevant additional information is added in sidebars, and a number of simple science experiments help the author illustrate various points, adding up to "an excellent classroom resource and a good addition to a library collection on astronomy and space exploration," according to Dennis W. Cheek, a contributor to Science Books and Films.

Volcano is Nicolson's first book in a series on natural disasters, and it applies the format developed for her earlier science titles. For Resource Links reviewer Shirley Jean Sheppard, "Nicolson captures the beauty and the horror of these forces of destruction", but teachers ought to be aware of the book's potential to frighten younger children. Still, Quill & Quire reviewer Wendy A. Lewis declared that "Volcano's clever newspaper-style design with front-page disaster headlines is perfect for this subject matter." Earthquake!, the second book in the series, relies upon this same format "and is equally detailed and succinct," remarked Heather Myers in Resource Links. A third book, Hurricane! discusses how hurricanes form, how scientists measure them, and their impact on the human environment. Sidebars highlight the worst hurricanes in human history, and provide experiments to help illustrate concepts discussed in the text.

Nicolson told CA: "I can see a volcano from my back deck! My home is on Bowen Island, British Columbia, and the volcano is Mount Baker in Washington State. Sometimes, as I stare at Mount Baker in the distance, I try to imagine it blasting ash into the sky. There were no mountains, or even big hills, where I grew up in Winnipeg. I was born there on August 2, 1949, a scorching day when the temperature reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

"One of the most exciting things that happened to me as a kid was learning to read. By age nine or so, I was a real bookworm who walked to and from school with my nose in a book. Some of my favourites were The House at Pooh Corner, the 'Little House' series, and Anne of Green Gables. As I read, I often lost track of everything that was going on around me. One day, in grade five, I looked up from a Nancy Drew mystery and found that my whole class was in the middle of a spelling test. It was like suddenly waking up from a wonderful dream! As I grew older, I got busy with other things—running on the track team, canoeing, traveling—but I always loved reading. Creating a book seemed like a wonderful thing to do, but for some reason I thought only other people could be writers, not me. Instead, I studied science at the University of Winnipeg and became a teacher. In 1980 my husband Don and I moved to Bowen Island with our baby daughter. For the first time, I saw the enormous slugs that live on the West Coast. I knew this would make an interesting topic for kids, so I learned everything I could about these slimy creatures. Then, I got brave and sent my slug article to Owl magazine. I still remember the day I went to the mailbox and opened their reply saying they wanted to publish it. Maybe I could be a writer after all! Since 1980 I've written lots of articles for Owl and eleven science books for Kids Can Press. I really enjoy learning new things about the natural world and writing about science gives me a chance to do that. Don and I now have three children—Sara, Ian, and Vanessa—who are quite grown up, and a little white dog who knows how to sneeze on command. In the summer, I love kayaking in the ocean around Bowen, and in the winter, we take our snowshoes up to the mountains on the mainland. In addition to writing, I enjoy teaching grade five at the school here on the island. Some of my students remind me of myself as a kid—and they are probably like many of you. There's nothing they like better than getting lost in a really good book."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, December 1, 2000, Carolyn Phelan, review of Exploring Space, p. 731; December 1, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of Volcano! p. 656; January 1, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of Baa! The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read about Genes and Cloning, p. 853.

Horn Book Guide, fall, 2001, Harry Clement Stubbs, review of Exploring Space, p. 384.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2001, review of Baa! p. 1219; October 1, 2002, review of Hurricane! p. 1476.

Quill & Quire, August, 2001, Wendy A. Lewis, review of Volcano!, p. 29; September, 2001, Sheree Haughian, review of Baa! p. 54.

Resource Links, December, 2001, Shirley Jean Sheppard, review of Volcano! p. 28; April, 2002, Heather Myers, review of Earthquake! p. 36.

School Library Journal, May, 2002, Patricia Manning, review of Earthquake! p. 175.

Science Books and Films, May, 2001, Dennis W. Cheek, review of Exploring Space, p. 127.