Snow Dance (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781589804784)

Peggy Thomas is fascinated by the world around her. She was inspired to write her first fictional childrenís book, Joshua the Giant Frog, by the tall tales she heard as a child and by her adult readings of Erie Canal folktales. Growing up outside Buffalo, New York, she and her brother, illustrator Paul Facklam, did not have to wish too hard for snow, but the weather inspired them to create Snow Dance, so that every child could enjoy a snow day. Ms. Thomas received both her bachelorís and masterís degrees in anthropology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has penned stories for Cricket Magazine and Hopscotch for Girls magazine. Joshua the Giant Frog was nominated by NYLA as one of the Best Books of the Summer for 2005. She has also published twelve nonfiction books on the natural sciences, including The Science of Saving Animals Series, of which the Marine Mammal Preservation volume was named NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children; Medicines from Nature, chosen by the New York Public Library as a 1999 Book for the Teen Age; and Volcano!, which was an ALA- recommended Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Her personal interests include studying the natural world, singing, pottery, and speaking to children in schools across the country about writing nonfiction. A member of the Society of Childrenís Book Writers and Illustrators, she lives with her husband and two children in the canal town of Middleport, New York, where she is an instructor for the Institute of Childrenís Literature.