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Hi! Hello, I'm so sorry — okay, looks like we're on... let me, how do I change this, I guess our account is under John. Oh, there we go. I'm definitely not John.

No worries at all!

Sorry about the issues, I haven't used Zoom since 2020.

Oh my gosh, that's been a while! No worries, well, we're starting on time anyway. I always have issues with tech stuff too, so I completely get it — we like writing letters instead of digital stuff.

Oh yeah!

I have your book with me right now — this is the one I take to all the classes with me, and the kids just love it so much.

Thank you, that's so awesome.

I love what you've done, and this was all inspired during the pandemic, right? With your grandma?

Yeah, yeah.

Where did she live — was she far away?

She lived pretty close, but we were scared, we didn't want her to get sick or anything. So when I couldn't really see her, writing letters really connected us. And then, now that I'm a little older, I was thinking about that time and I wanted to create something that could connect other people who might feel isolated.

And your book just helps convey that message, especially for kids, because sometimes they don't really understand. So I'll read your book, and then, "here's a letter," and they just have so much fun with it.

That's such a non-intimidating way to inspire them to write, having that format. That's really great.

Well, I'm really excited about what you're doing, and if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know.

Yeah! And I have a few questions for you.

Yeah, of course.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Sure — so I'm a children's book author now, but for a long time I worked in children's book publishing, because I just love books so much and wanted to promote them. I worked as a publicist for a little over a decade at various publishing houses, one in California and then I went to New York and worked at some of the big publishers there. That's how I met John.

When I was a little kid I always wanted to write children's books, and actually I did — but life kind of happens, and as you get older you lose track of certain dreams. It wasn't until the pandemic — I was actually working for the Girl Scouts during that time, and I had a lot of extra time on my hands. I wasn't traveling as much, and I didn't have an excuse not to write anymore.

John, my husband, saw me writing a lot of letters to friends and family all over the country because we couldn't connect in person. One day he saw me writing a letter and asked, "What are you doing when you write these letters?" And I said, "I'm sending hugs to people I can't hug in person." And he said, "There — that's the book you need to write." That's how How to Send a Hug became How to Send a Hug, and how I finally launched into becoming an author and fulfilling my childhood dream. Now we're eleven books in.

I love that, and I love the message behind How to Send a Hug. It's so special, definitely from the heart. I used to write and send letters with my grandfather, who lived in Connecticut while I lived in Arizona growing up. Getting that envelope — he usually filled it with drawings and stories, and it was always a treat to get something in the mail. That stays with you. Then you have those letters once they're gone, and you can go back to that time and place.

Yeah, there's something very special about that.

I always tell the kids, we're sending hugs, we're sending smiles to people everywhere. And you make them feel special, and they make you feel special too — it's really magical.

Yeah.

So I shared this book with my own grandma, and we both really loved it. Can you talk about how it's really a book for all ages, not just kids?

Yeah — I think letter writing has been around for thousands of years. It's an art, and I don't think you can put a time or age limit on an art. Let's see, how old was I when I started writing letters — I kind of fell in love with writing when I was very young, through letter writing with family members. That's how I practiced putting words together, and it was a non-intimidating format for learning how to communicate with family. That would've been four or five years old.

On the other end of the spectrum, with older people, I'm still writing letters now as an adult. Letter writing is a timeless act, a way of communicating that's been around forever. So teaching kids how to connect through letter writing is really important — how often do you print out an email and save it in a box under your bed? Probably not. But those letters you can carry with you are like carrying bits of the people you care about, essentially for your whole life. I think that's timeless.

No, I love that, I definitely agree. Sometimes when I go to schools, there are a few kids who feel a little self-conscious about their letters, maybe feel like their handwriting isn't that good, or they don't love what they said. What would you say to those kids?

I can completely relate to that. There are so many times I've written letters and wondered, are they going to be able to understand my handwriting? I should probably work on that. But that's kind of your stamp — it's who you are, and that's what makes your letter so special. I don't send perfect letters myself. I always use pens when I write, so sometimes I'll mess up a word, and I'll just scratch it out, and now it's part of the letter.

That's kind of the fun of letter writing — it's unique to you, and you're in that moment with that piece of paper, taking the time to think thoughtfully about the other person. That is such a special thing. Sometimes I put letters in the mail and think, was that a weird thing to put in there? I hope not! But you just have to go with it. Nothing about letter writing has to be perfect.

Yeah, that's what makes it so great, and pressure-free, I think. It can make it personal, "this is for me," and sometimes I make mistakes too.

We all do — that's just what humans are.

Yeah. And my next question — I read a little bit on your website, but I know we both share a deep love for animals. Can you tell us about your conservation efforts, and how you hope they might inspire kids to learn more?

Oh my gosh, yes. The fun thing about book writing is you never know where it's going to take you. When I was working on my book Wild Places, about the life of naturalist David Attenborough —

The voice of nature.

Yes — I was watching a lot of documentaries and reading a lot of books about him, again during the pandemic. That was the inspiration behind the book. While doing research, which is all about how the world has changed within one man's lifetime (he turns 100 on May 8th, which is pretty crazy), I started learning about endangered animals.

I grew up obsessed with animals, I wanted to be like Jane Goodall, out in the wild. It took me a while to get anywhere close to doing something like that. But researching that book led me to learning about pangolins, and that they're the most trafficked animal on Earth. I didn't know anything about pangolins before that.

So that's how Hello, I'm a Pangolin came about — one of six in our Meet the Wild Things series, all about endangered animals: what makes them fun and interesting, why they're important to their ecosystems, why they're endangered, what people are doing to help, and how kids can help too. This is the kind of book I would've wanted as a kid.

While researching Wild Places, I found a nonprofit called Wild Tomorrow, which runs volunteer trips. They had one coming up in spring 2022 — a wildlife photography volunteer trip in Africa. I love photography, I love animals, I'd never been to Africa — it almost seemed too good to be true. My husband was very supportive, he said, "You should go, just do it." So I did.

That trip was so inspiring. I learned so much about the plight of rhinos, which are quickly going to go extinct in our lifetime if we don't do something to help. I participated in rhino horn trimmings, bird banding (tracking migratory birds), and I got to see a pangolin that had been trafficked and then rescued and reintroduced into the wild. I got to interview the ecologists firsthand for my book. Calling it inspiring would be a major understatement — it was incredible.

I came back and told John, "We have to bring more children's book authors and illustrators here, because there are so many stories in the wild." How can we connect kids with the amazing conservation work happening, and inspire the next generation to care about our wildlife and wild places? So we started a group called Children's Book Creators for Conservation. We brought an award-winning team of authors and illustrators on our first trip in 2023, another group in 2025, and we're hoping to bring another in 2027. There are books being created based on the inspiration some of these authors and illustrators had on those trips.

Through this work, Wild Tomorrow invited John and me to be ambassadors for their nonprofit. So now we're immersed in it, doing school visits where we talk a lot about our conservation work, and garnering empathy for animals, which in turn creates empathy for humans. We just want empathetic people wherever we can find them, because if we don't care about taking care of the planet, no one else is going to do it.

Awesome — so that's kind of how you got into it. Book research, you never know where it'll take you.

Exactly.

I love that so much, and I actually want to start reading those books.

Oh, great, I can happily send you a few — we'll have to exchange information after this. What's your favorite animal, do you have one?

Um, it kind of depends.

I mean, I have four dogs, so I could say that, but I also love sea creatures, I love monkeys — I really love all animals, I haven't come across an animal I don't love.

Same! Every kid asks you, "what's your favorite animal," and you're like, "I love all animals," how can you not?

Exactly. We just got back from a trip in Southeast Asia recently, to Borneo to see the orangutans — that was incredible, I'll have to send you some video. There are people who live out in that forest year-round, constantly making sure these animals have enough food, because the conservationists have to give them supplemental food since the forest has been so decimated by palm oil deforestation. So much to learn about what's happening out there.

Yeah. So, I was going to ask — how many schools do you visit? Do you have a few you visit regularly, or how does that usually work for you?

I usually visit schools every other week, every two weeks, and I try to go everywhere, not just back to the same places, to really get a variety of kids introduced to the book. One of my favorites was Silver Spur Elementary — it's kind of around where I live, so it was fun, like giving back. It's so fun when you come and their faces light up, and you read them How to Send a Hug, and then they want to write some too, and I say, "good, because lucky for you, we are."

Funny you say that, we actually might be doing something with it!

That's fantastic, I love it so much. That's the fun part about doing letter writing with students, it's so natural. Some kids will ask, "what do I say, what do I ask?" And I just say, ask them how they're doing. You don't have to talk about yourself so much. If you remember a certain time, or have a funny memory you want to share with the person, there's so many things you can do with letter writing. When you put pen to paper, it kind of speaks for itself and writes for itself.

Exactly, you can really just flow into it.

Well, I'm so glad. I think that's really what's so special about letter writing, everybody texts and emails, but it's that feeling when you put pen to paper — it can't be replaced.

I had a friend send me a letter the other day, and I was like, "oh, it's been a while since I got a letter, I'm so excited!"

And it's funny, because she knows I like elephants a lot, so she put an elephant sticker on it, and right away you feel special before you even open the envelope — this person knows me.

Yeah, you're right, it's totally different from a text or a call.

For sure — although those are important too.

So, I just wanted to close off — is there anything else you want to say directly to the kids who are part of Sending Grace?

I would love to say — thank you for making older people feel special too. We all need to feel special, and a good way to do that is to connect through letter writing, and remind people that there are people thinking about them. I think that is so important in our world today. Thank you for connecting through Sending Grace and everything Grace is doing — I applaud you, Grace. It couldn't be more of a dream project, from what I've heard you've been doing, and you're awesome. Keep it going, keep that letter writing going — who knows what kind of letters you'll receive in return, whether it's fan mail from a rockstar. Thank you for making people feel special through your letter writing efforts.

Well, thank you so much, it was so great to meet with you and talk with you and hear about not just how you feel about Sending Grace, but learning about your stories with animals and all of that. That was really special, so thank you.

I appreciate it so much, and I'll follow up with you via email — I can send over some books, and if you have any questions anytime, I'm here.

Well, thank you.

Of course. Is there anything else?

I think that's it.

Great — thank you so much, Grace.

Thank you, thank you, have a good —

Have a good afternoon, and I am always here, so just don't hesitate — most authors and illustrators are just locked in their studios, like I am.

So we'll talk to you soon, and thank you again for inviting me on this call.

Yeah, it was great, thank you.

Okay, I'll talk to you soon.

Talk to you soon, bye!