Queen of the Track

Heather Lang loves researching and writing children’s books that celebrate our natural world and biographies about determined people who overcome extraordinary obstacles to follow their passions.Her award-winning titles include Queen of the Track: Alice Coachman, Olympic High-Jump Champion; Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine; and The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest—an NSTA/CBC Best STEM Book and Green Earth Book Award winner. She is also the coauthor of the Animal Heroes series, the first of which, Supermoms!, was a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year.To research her books, Heather has observed wildlife in the Serengeti and Madagascar, explored the treetops of the Amazon rainforest, and gone scuba diving with sharks. Her new middle-grade nonfiction book, For the Love of Animals: How Twelve Conservationists Turned Passion into Action, features inspiring wildlife champions from around the world.Heather lives in Lexington, MA. Learn more about her books and discover lots of activities and resources at heatherlangbooks.com.

Floyd Cooper (1956–2021) illustrated over 110 books for children, including Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which he was awarded a Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and a Sibert Honor. He was also the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award for The Blacker the Berry; three Coretta Scott King Honors for I Have Heard of a Land, Meet Danitra Brown, and Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea; 10 ALA Notables; and an NAACP Image Award, among other honors. Visit floydcooper.com.