When some of your book subjects include ghosts, Big Foot and aliens, fact checking and reliable sources are very important aspect of the research process.
Author Kelly Milner Halls writes non-fiction, science based children’s books, several of which deal with these topics. Recently, she spent a day at Dorothy Fox Elementary School in Camas. A highlight was the author’s lunch, which included fourth- and fifth-grade students.
Her book, “The Tales of the Cryptids,” is currently one of the most popular choices in the school library.
“I don’t tell you for sure Big Foot is real, I don’t tell you for sure aliens are real. I don’t tell you for sure ghosts are real. I give you the evidence that I found through years of research, and I leave it for you guys to decide,” she said. “You have to control the rest of your lives what you believe. You’re smart. People forget how smarts kids are. You can take that information and you can make a decision for yourself, or you and your parents can sit down and you can say ‘Hey, Mom and Dad, look at this book, what do you think’?”
Halls, who lives in Spokane, came to Dorothy Fox as a part of a Camas Educational Foundation grant written by Liberty Middle School librarian Mistalyn Batten.