April Pulley Sayre (April 11, 1966 — November 6, 2021) was an American children's book author from the 1990s to 2020s. Before becoming an author, Sayre worked at the

National Wildlife Federation The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (includin ...

and

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, ...

. Sayre published series on the

biomes A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

and

continents A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

between 1994 and 2003. She expanded into picture books during 1995. With her picture books, Sayre primarily wrote about animals while also writing about food and the weather. Sayre was on the

ALA Notable lists American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists, part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adults'' (est ...

three times during both the 2000s and 2010s. Additional lists Sayre's books appeared on during this time period include the

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialo ...

and

National Science Teaching Association The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), founded in 1944 (as the National Science Teachers Association) and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is an association of science teachers in the United States and is the largest organization ...

. From the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

, Sayre won the Children's Science Picture Book category as part of the 2006 AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books with ''Stars Beneath Your Bed''. She received the

Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is a literary award by the American Library Association (ALA) that annually recognizes the "author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished book for beginning readers published in English in the United States ...

for ''Vulture View'' in 2008. At the Indiana Authors Awards, Sayre won the Genre Excellence category during 2016.

Early life and education

April Pulley's birth occurred at Greenville, South Carolina on April 11, 1966. Pulley became interested in literature and nature while living with her two siblings during her childhood. Growing up, she provided the pill bugs for her family's educational toys. Pulley "wrote bedtime stories for her pet rock" as a student. She had

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, c ...

until it stopped during her teenage years. By 2000, April Pulley Sayre completed her post-secondary education at Duke University and

Vermont College Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, ...

. For her programs, she studied science and writing.

Career

During the late 1980s, Pulley worked at the

and

as an intern before her marriage. In 1988, Pulley started a three-year position as an

associate editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

with the NWF. The year after, Pulley wrote a primatologist biography that did not get published. When April Pulley Sayre began re-experiencing asthma in 1990, she created Team A with her husband and wrote about childhood asthma. In the early 1990s, Sayre wanted to work in biology during her writing career. From 1994 to 2003, Sayre published one series of books on the

and two series on the

. She expanded into picture books in 1995 after being inspired during an

authors' conference An authors' conference or writers' conference is a type of conference where writers gather to review their written works and suggest improvements. This process helps an author improve their work and learn to be a better writer for future works, bot ...

.McElmeel 2004, p. 184 By the late 1990s, Sayre had written poetry that was private. Up to 2018, Sayre primarily wrote about animals in over forty books. Some of these animals were the

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics ar ...

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gene ...

and squirrel. Other topics Sayre wrote about include the weather and food. As a fiction writer, Sayre released ''Noodle Man, The Pasta Superhero'' in 2002. For her husband's co-authored book in 2015 titled ''Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest'', Sayre helped conducted plant research during the 2010s. That year, Sayre created ''The Indiana Chant'' for the 200th anniversary of the state. By the time of her death in 2021, she had "created more than 80 books for young readers".

Writing process and themes

To create her publications, Sayre conducted research before starting the writing process. Some places she visited for her books include the Galapagos Islands and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Her books took a minimum total of one combined year to complete the planning and publication stages. In 2004, Sayre stated she was "rejected probably 500 times" during her writing career. For her books, she focused on making them sound good when read out loud. Sayre released ''Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls and Song of Whales, Elephants, and Birds'' after she used

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...

in multiple publications. During the 2010s, she included photos that she took in her publications.

Awards and honors

In 2001, Sayre became a multiple recipient on the John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers from the

John Burroughs Association The John Burroughs Association was founded in 1921 to commemorate the life and works of author/naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921). Administered out of offices at the American Museum of Natural History, the Association owns the John Burroughs San ...

. That year, her book ''Splash! Splash! Animal Baths'' was a Children's Choice for the

. With the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, three of her books were on the

in the 2000s. She was on these ALA lists three more times during the 2010s. With ''Vulture View'', Sayre was given a

in 2008. From the

, ''Stars Beneath Your Bed'' received the AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books for the Children's Science Picture Book category in 2006. During the 2010s, her books were chosen as Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 multiple times by the

in 2014 and 2017. Sayre won the Genre Excellence category as part of the Indiana Authors Awards in 2016.

Personal life and death

In 1996, Sayre moved to

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

and lived there until her 2021 death. Sayre had

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

before her death during November 6, 2021.

References

{{reflist 1966 births 2021 deaths National Geographic Society American science writers American women children's writers American children's writers