Welcome to the first instalment of BALLER Profiles! Every Wednesday, the Butterflies and Aliens Library of Literary Eccentricities and Rarities will bring you interviews with interesting people in the bookish world. You can look forward to reading interviews with authors, publishing professionals, library people, readers, and more – the bookish world is broad and covers a lot of ground.

To kick things off, we are thrilled to interview author Dana L. Church!

Stacey : Hi Dana! Thank you for being our first BALLER Profile interviewee. Could you please introduce yourself to our readers with a little bit about you and what you write?

Dana: Sure! My name is Dana L. Church and I am a nonfiction author who writes about animals. I write mainly for middle grade readers but I also write for adults. I have a PhD in animal cognition: the science of how animals think. Although I started out in academia, I realized I have much more fun writing about other people’s research rather than doing the research myself. I particularly like writing about animals and science in a way that is accessible for everyone, and hopefully gets people excited and interested to learn more.

Stacey: Based on your book The Beekeepers with Scholastic Focus, you are passionate about bees! Can you share with us where this passion came from?

Dana: I’ve loved animals ever since I was a kid, but I was quite scared of bees and other insects. One summer I was hired as a research assistant for one of my professors, and I learned I would be working with bumble bees. I was terrified! I thought I would be stung every day. I was also quite disappointed, because I wanted to study other animals like apes or dogs or birds. Well, after spending just a few days watching bumble bees, I was hooked. Bumble bees are incredible! They are not little “robots” that act the same. They show individual differences. They are able to navigate this immense world of ours to find food, return to their nest, and then remember how to find that food again. They can detect smelly footprints from other bees that are left behind on flowers. They can see ultraviolet light. I realized I had taken bees and other insects completely for granted, thinking that only “higher” animals were interesting. Bumble bees ignited my wonder for animals in a much deeper way.

As for my fear of stings, I ended up working with bumble bees for eight years and I was never stung. If I was gentle with the bees, they were gentle with me.

Stacey: The natural world and animal life are obviously very important to you and your writing. What are you hoping your readers will take away from reading any of your books?

Dana: I hope to spark wonder, curiosity, and motivate readers to learn more—especially about animals not usually considered cute or charismatic. I am a perfect example of someone who was once terrified (of bees), but after being open to learning, I now feel a deep appreciation for insects and the natural world in general.

Wonder and curiosity for the natural world is so important. It helps foster a deeper respect, compassion, and ultimately a commitment to live better with other creatures on this planet. And we desperately need to live better with other creatures on this planet.

Stacey: You have a brand new book releasing on Feb 13th called Animal Minds published by Orca Books – can you tell us about this book and why you think it is important?

Dana: Animal Minds introduces readers to the world of animal cognition: how scientists study how animals think. It explores questions like, do animals have personality? Can they count? How do they remember where things are? Can they solve puzzles? I include a wide range of animals from dolphins to dung beetles, from tigers to turkey vultures. I wanted to write this book because I found there were virtually none out there for young readers about this entire field of science that I find so fascinating. I would have loved a book like this when I was a kid!

Stacey: Do you have any other books releasing in the near future that you can tell us about?

Dana: Yes! April 2 is the release date of my middle grade nonfiction book with Scholastic Focus titled The Monarch Effect: Surviving Poison, Predators, and People. It’s a unique look at monarch butterflies: how scientists learned where they go in winter, how they are little warriors from the time they are a caterpillar to their spectacular migration as butterflies, and how we need to think critically about our understanding of conservation. Fun fact: The book also makes connections between monarch butterflies, barfing birds, nose hairs, and eyes on strange body parts.

Stacey: What do you love the most about writing nonfiction for children and adults?

Dana: For some unknown, strange reason, I like gathering research from scientific papers and journals and turning it into a story or a description that can be easily understood. So I find the process of writing nonfiction fun—even though it’s not always easy!

One surprise for me was how much I enjoy interacting with readers, people who attend my author events, and students during school visits. It is deeply rewarding to see people become interested and excited about something you are interested in and excited about. Or, if they are not necessarily excited, to help them think of things or look at things in different ways. I always look forward to the Q&A at the end of my presentations. Kids ask the BEST questions! :-)

Stacey: Thank you again for taking part in our BALLER Profile series, Dana! 

And, dear, readers, we hope you enjoyed reading about Dana and her upcoming books. Please join us again next Wednesday for the next interview and don’t hesitate to stop by on Monday to check our Monday Book of the Week <3

In the meantime, Happy Reading!

– Stacey