Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

Congratulations to Claire Annette, winner of Lori Alexander’s giveaway of a picture book critique OR a 20-minute “Ask-Me-Anything” Zoom!

A Sensory Recipe for Writing Nonfiction

by Nell Cross Beckerman

Don’t all kids play “the floor is lava,” where you have to jump from couch to chair so you don’t fall in the lava pit? I loved that game when I was little and it was always my dream to see lava in person.

In 2003, I went to the Kīlaleau volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, and I got to see real, live, red hot lava!

The park rangers told everyone where it was safe to go, so we started out, picking our way over sharp, cooled lava, to try to get closer to where the lava river was streaming over the cliff into the ocean.

Even through the sun was going down, instead of feeling cooler, I realized I was feeling hotter.

Why was that?

In between the black cooled cracks, I saw red glowing up at me.

I froze.

I couldn’t believe it—I was having an actual “don’t step in the crack moment.” While I was safe standing where I was, I knew if I poked my finger down into the crack, it would melt right off. Once I got my voice back, I screamed “Lava! Lava!” and asked a friend to take a photo of me. It was so thrilling!

The night turned black and the stars came out, the waves rumbled in the distance, and the lava glowed brighter.  I felt like I was on the edge of the earth, father away from civilization than I had ever been.

I kept this powerful, magical memory close to my heart for 20 years. When it was time to choose a follow-up subject for my 2022 Scholastic book, CAVES (illustrated by Kalen Chock), my editor and I jumped to the same thought: VOLCANOES! I was so excited to take my personal experience with lava and share it with kids everywhere.

During the research processes, I fell down many fascinating rabbit holes:

The hydrothermal vent communities who live in the blackest part of the ocean, with no access to sunlight, sustained by the heat of volcanoes? Wow.

The1883 eruption of Krakatoa, whose explosion was so loud it burst the eardrums of a ship crew 40 miles away and circled the globe multiple times? Who’s tsunamis decimated the surrounding populations? Chilling.

Extraterrestrail volcanoes, including Olympus Mons on Mars, which is over 100 times larger in volume than Earth’s largest active volcano, Mauna Loa? And cryovolcanoes that erupt ice on Enceladus? Are you even kidding me??

After gathering the facts, I needed to get in the proper “vibey” headspace to write the main lyrical text. I turned to dramatic documentaries, my favorite being Werner Herzog’s Into the Inferno. His raspy, German-accented voiceover was just the ticket I needed to get the words flowing, along with giant chunks of lava gifted to me by my husband, spread around my office to intensify the volcanic vibes.

Personal experience, academic research, artistic documentaries, and sensory objects. My recipe for the behind-the-scenes creation of the VOLCANOES text!

 😃 When you enjoy a book, please support authors and illustrators by posting reviews online.