Concordia author releases “Beatrix Potter: Scientist”

Concordia author Lindsay H. Metcalf is releasing her first three trade picture books this fall, beginning with “Beatrix Potter, Scientist.”
A picture-book biography about the author's early passions for scientific illustration and mycology, “Beatrix Potter, Scientist” is now available. Signed copies of the book can be purchased at the Cloud County Tourism Office.
Metcalf, a 2000 graduate of Concordia High School, recently signed copies of the book at the Frank Carlson Library, where it is available for checkout.
Everyone knows Beatrix Potter as the creator of the Peter Rabbit stories. But before that, she was a girl of science. As a child, Beatrix collected nature specimens; as a young adult, she was an amateur mycologist presenting her research on mushrooms and other fungi to England's foremost experts. Like many women of her time, she remained unacknowledged by the scientific community, but her keen eye for observation led her to an acclaimed career as an artist and storyteller.
"Beatrix Potter, Scientist," illustrated by Junyi Wu, casts the beloved author in a new light in this inspiring picture-book story, for ages 4-8.
Metcalf will release “No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History,” on September 22 and “Farmers Unite! Planting a Protest for Fair Prices,” on November 10.
“No Voice Too Small,” edited by Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson and Jeannette Bradley, and illustrated by Bradley, honors young activists who have sought to initiate change.
Mari Copeny demanded clean water in Flint. Jazz Jennings insisted, as a trans girl, on playing soccer with the girls' team. From Viridiana Sanchez Santos’s quinceañera demonstration against anti-immigrant policy to Zach Wahls’s moving declaration that his two moms and he were a family like any other, fourteen poems honor these young activists. This poetry anthology, for ages 5-9, features works by Lesléa Newman, Traci Sorell, and Nikki Grimes, while additional text goes into detail about each youth activist's life and how readers can get involved.
“Farmers Unite! Planting a Protest for Fair Prices” is a non-fiction, photo-illustrated book about the struggles farmers faced in the late 1970s.
Grain prices had tanked, farm auction notices filled newspapers and people had forgotten that food didn't grow in grocery stores. So on February 5, 1979, thousands of tractors from all parts of the United States flooded Washington D.C., in protest. Many Kansans joined, including Cloud County residents Dean Holbert and Jim Reedy.
Metcalf, who grew up on a Concordia farm, shares that rarely told story of grassroots perseverance and economic justice.
Farmers wanted fair prices for their products and demanded action from Congress. After police corralled the tractors on the National Mall, the farmers and their tractors stayed through a snowstorm and dug out the city. Americans were now convinced they needed farmers, but the law took longer. Boldly told and highlighted with stunning archival images, "Farmers Unite! Planting a Protest for Fair Prices" is the story of the struggle and triumph of the American farmer that still resonates today.
Metcalf is a graduate of the University of Kansas with bachelor's degrees in journalism and Spanish. She lives in Concordia with her husband Will and her sons, Quinn and Bennett.