Do You Like Being a Snake...

...is among the questions you can ask a snake but probably won't get an answer to.
You can also ask a snake, How Many Bones Do You Have? and What Would You Like For Dinner? and while snake won't answer, Sam Brewster and I will, and you can read our answers in THE BOOK ONE BONES, coming to you from Phaidon in early Fall 2017, just in time for your Halloween stockings. In the meantime, follow along with us here wherever there is a thebookofbones tag, and also on twitter with #thebookofbones, and my bones pinterest board. Send us your bones questions on Facebook, Twitter, and at gsbwrites [at] gmail [dot] com.

Step by Step

One of the most interesting aspects of writing and researching the suite of 50 States books has been how we have discovered what we want to do and what we should do during the process of doing it. Take the very first state we tackled, way back in November 2014: New York. We went through a good number of revisions before we ended up with something we were pleased with. What do you think?

Rock Out to a State PlayList...Spanish Harlem Incident

You gotta have tunes while you work, and if the subject matter of the song happens to match the topic, all the better! Join me in listening to my STATE PLAYLIST, which at the moment is really a New York City Playlist, to cheer me while researching New York City for 50 STATES, coming to you in Fall 2017. 

For each city I always list a few good children's books that either take place in that city or are written in authors from that city. There are so many good choices for New York that I've had to start a pinterest board. For NYC, I listed a few of my favorite New York songs, "Spanish Harlem Incident" by Bob Dylan, for Aaron, and "Manhattan" by Cat Power, for me. They kick off the playlist.

My mom got me TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold when Is tarted college at Barnard, on New York's upper west side. It kicks off the pinterest board.

50 States Resources

Here are some of the resources I found especially helpful when researching The 50 States

• AUTHOR VISIT TIPS
  www.gabriellebalkan.com/events
• SOCIAL STUDIES BOOKS
  www.socialstudies.org/notable
• AMERICAN INDIANS IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
• https://www.pinterest.com/dreesenambe/american-indians-in-childrens-literature/
• BOOKS BY STATE PINTEREST  
  www.gabriellebalkan.com/the50states
• MAPS
  • NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES, NPR piece: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/24/323665644/the-map-of-native-american-tribes-youve-never-seen-before
    • www.tribalnationsmaps.com
  • MONSTER MAP
    Students often ask me where they can find this map of monsters in the U.S. (sometimes after a tentative "Are those REAL?!")
    Hog Island Press has done a lovely job and you can see and buy it here:
    www.hogislandpress.com/product/monster-map  
  • GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS MAP
    This is more for the grown-ups than kids, but VERY fun to review:
    www.hogislandpress.com/product/great-american-novel-map

World's First Computer Mouse

Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) 
Under Engelbart's guidance, the Augmentation Research Center developed the NLS computer system to demonstrate numerous technologies, most of which are now in widespread use; this included the computer mouse, bitmapped screens, hypertext; all of which were displayed at The Mother of All Demos in 1968.
Portland, Oregon

Books in The 50 States

I've started a pinterest board with all the authors and books mentioned in #the50states. It'll be good for something someday, I am just certain. 

https://www.pinterest.com/gabriellebalkan/authors-books-in-the-50-states/

camel-leopard

"Giraffes have a small hump on their back and have a spotted pattern similar to that of a leopard. For a long time people called the giraffe a “camel-leopard,” because they believed that it was a combination of a camel and a leopard. That's where the giraffe's species name camelopardalis comes from." - Sandiego Zoo

Mosaic by Grace Blowers

Bones by Steve Jenkins

Steve Jenkins does a marvelous job of taking a potentially unwieldy and endless subject, such as BONES, and collects the information into a perfectly reasonable, utterly beautiful, thoroughly enjoyable book. #thebookofbones

It's Notable

The 50 States was selected as a 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Find a preview of the entire selection online at the National Council for the Social Studies-Children's Book Council. The May-June 2016 issue of Social Education will feature a 16-page annotated, illustrated, and National Standards for Social Studies-connected pullout reference of all K-8 books, including 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith and Illustrated by Shane W. Evans (Roaring Brook Press), Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Scholastic Press), Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and Illustrated by Christian Robinson (G.P. Putnam's Sons), and many other wonderful choices.