• Leave a Comment
• Send an Email
• Invite as Friend

An experienced biologist, naturalist, and educator, Christine Petersen has authored more than three-dozen educational nonfiction books for children. She writes for audiences at any reading level, specializing in topics in science and social studies.
To read about Christine's personal and professional background, click the MORE link below. Scroll down for a complete list of her children's books.
***
My first publication came at age eleven, when Road Rider magazine printed my review of a children's book called Mouse Margaret, by Rimsky Jones. It was a fitting first vocation. I was the child who is so immersed in books that she reads while walking home from school—the one who comes into the school library twice a week for a new stack of books, which the librarian has already picked out in anticipation.
I was also deeply influenced by the landscape of my childhood: the small coastal town of Laguna Beach. The beach there is long and narrow, and the shore dips sharply downward. This produces fast and high waves that crash with fury even at low tide, and an "undertoad" that requires parents to keep a constant eye on their bathing children. I went to sleep each night to the sound of those booming waves, and can hear them still in my memory. Weather permitting, we walked and played on the beach every day of the year. I told my parents long, convoluted tales as we watched for whales spouting offshore, or while rock-hopping among the tidepools in search of shells, sea stars, and other tidepool creatures.
As a young adult, I found myself torn between writing and science, two powerful influences from my childhood. Eventually, I chose to study biology, specializing in the behavioral ecology of bats. I intended to devote my career to field research so I could learn how to conserve species and their habitats. In my senior year of college, however, an unexpected event laid the groundwork for several subsequent shifts in my goals. After I finished surveying the bats at an historic ranch north of San Francisco, my adviser suggested that I conduct an on-site interpretive program to tell the local people what I had learned. Almost two-dozen adults and children showed up on that first August evening. They eagerly tromped around the redwood forest and crouched by a shallow stream, watching unobtrusively as I caught and identified bats. They listened with rapt attention as I talked about the diversity of bats and their vital importance in the natural world. In addition to doing research, I was soon doing naturalists programs for parks, libraries, and land trust groups—and have continued doing them for the intervening 14 years.
Working closely with the public gave me new perspective, and becoming a classroom teacher seemed a natural shift. For the past nine years, I have used inquiry and citizen science to explore questions about the natural and physical world with middle school students.
Having never quite recovered from the thrill of seeing my writing in print, in 2001 I once again picked up my pen--then quickly put it down in favor of an Apple laptop. My first book projects were facilitated by my father, who is a respected environmental writer and also has published extensively in the children's educational market. We worked together on an intermediate series, which gave me the benefit of his editorial experience. I have since published more than a dozen curriculum-based non-fiction books, covering topics in science and social studies. I enjoy the diversity of themes in these two disciplines, and appreciate the opportunity to write for audiences at all grade levels. My mother's input has been equally influential: By watching her work as a book publicist, I gained exposure to many excellent books and insight into the publishing community. This may be valuable when I pursue my long-term goal of writing adult trade non-fiction, which I have delved into so far by publishing two magazine articles.
In 2007, I left teaching to pursue a career as a freelance writer and environmental educator. I am developing a book on bats, and look forward to writing on a wide variety of themes for children.

An experienced biologist, naturalist, and educator, Christine Petersen has authored more than three-dozen educational nonfiction books for children. She writes for audiences at any reading level, specializing in topics in science and social studies. To read about Christine's personal and professional background, click the MORE link below. Scroll down for a complete list of her children's... More