Listening to Crickets

From the time she was a very young girl, Rachel Carson felt a bond with nature. Growing up in Pennsylvania, she spent hours exploring meadows and woods, dreaming of seeing the ocean. As Rachel grew older, she combined her gift for writing with her love of nature, producing award-winning books about the sea. But her best-known achievement was the publication of Silent Spring, an account of the dangerous effects of pesticides on plants and animals. With Silent Spring, Rachel helped create a movement to ban these harmful chemicals. Her findings helped to assure that future generations would be able to dream about the ocean and listen to crickets.

Candice Ransom is the author of more than 120 books for children. Her books have won several awards and have been nominated to many state lists, including the William Allen White Award and the Texas Bluebonnet Award. She holds an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College and an MA in children's literature from Hollins University. She currently teaches at Hollins University, in the MA/MFA graduate program in children's literature. She lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia with her husband, Frank, and their cat, Winchester.