Goodman, Susan E. 1952–

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Goodman, Susan E. 1952–

Personal

Born 1952; children: Jake; Matthew (stepson). Education: Goddard College, M.A. (applied psychology).

Addresses

Office—5 Oakview Terrace, Boston, MA 02130. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Educator, author, and journalist. Tufts University, Boston, MA, professor; Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, professor. Freelance journalist; General Learning Corporation, Northbrook, IL, contributing editor. Formerly workes as a social worker.

Awards, Honors

Washington Post Book World Best Book designation, 2004, for On This Spot; Chicago Public Library Best of the Best designation, 2004, for The Truth about Poop; Maryland Blue Crab Young Readers Award for Nonfiction, 2004, for Choppers!; Booklist Top Ten Sci-Fi Books for Youth designation, 2004, for Skyscraper.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Amazing Artifacts: The Human Body, Animals, Plants, P. Bedrick Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Amazing Spacefacts: Solar System, Stars, Space Travel, P. Bedrick Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Unseen Rainbows, Silent Songs: The World beyond Human Senses, illustrated by Beverly Duncan, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 1995.

The Great Antler Auction, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 1996.

Pilgrims of Plymouth, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC), 1999.

Animal Rescue: The Best Job There Is, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2000.

Chopsticks for My Noodle Soup: Eliza's Life in Malaysia, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2000.

Seeds, Stems, and Stamens: The Ways Plants Fit into Their World, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2001.

Claws, Coats, and Camouflage: The Ways Animals Fit into Their World, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2001.

What Do You Do … at the Zoo?, illustrated by Steve Pica, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2002.

What Do You Do on a Farm?, illustrated by Steve Pica, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2002.

Nature Did It First!, photographs by Dorothy Handelman, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2003.

Skyscraper: From the Ground Up, illustrated by Michael J. Doolittle, Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

On This Spot: An Expedition Back through Time, illustrated by Lee Christiansen, Greenwillow Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Truth about Poop, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith, Viking (New York, NY), 2004.

Choppers!, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Saber-toothed Cats, illustrated by Kerry Maguire, Millbrook Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.

Life on the Ice, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Millbrook Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.

Gee Whiz!: It's all about Pee, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith, Viking (New York, NY), 2006.

All in Just One Cookie, illustrated by Timothy Bush, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2006.

Motorcycles!, photographs by Michael Doolittle, Random House (New York, NY), 2007.

Saving the Whooping Crane, illustrated by Phyllis V. Saroff, Millbrook Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2008.

Contributor to periodicals, including National Geographic Traveler, Modern Maturity, Women's Day, National Wildlife, Redbook, Family Circle, Child, Harp- er's Bazaar, Glamour, New Woman, Barons, Self, Mademoiselle, Health, Working Woman, Ranger Rick, Outside Kids, Yankee, Woman, Bride's, Modern Bride, Horticulture, Science, Highlights for Children, Old Farmer's Almanac, Current Health, Real Paper, and Bay State Guardian.

"ULTIMATE FIELD TRIP" SERIES; FOR CHILDREN

Bats, Bugs, and Biodiversity: Adventures in the Amazonian Rain Forest, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 1995.

Stones, Bones, and Petroglyphs: Digging into Southwest Archaeology, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 1998.

Ultimate Field Trip 3: Wading into Marine Biology, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 1999.

Ultimate Field Trip 4: A Week in the 1800s, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2000.

Ultimate Field Trip 5: Blasting off to Space Academy, photographs by Michael J. Doolittle, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2001.

"BRAVE KIDS: TRUE STORIES FROM AMERICA'S PAST" SERIES

Cora Frear: A True Story, illustrated by Doris Ettlinger, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2002.

Robert Henry Hendersot, illustrated by Doris Ettlinger, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2003.

Hazelle Boxberg, illustrated by Doris Ettlinger, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2004.

Sidelights

Susan E. Goodman is a journalist as well as a prolific writer of books for children and young adults. Her many contributions to children's fiction and nonfiction include several titles in the "Ultimate Field Trip" series, a wide-ranging group of books that include the titles Bats, Bugs, and Biodiversity: Adventures in the Amazonian Rain Forest and Ultimate Field Trip 5: Blasting off to Space Academy. Her fact-based stories for the "Brave Kids" series profile young people from various eras of American history, while standalone titles such as Gee Whiz!: It's All about Pee, Choppers!, On This Spot: An Expedition Back through Time, and It's all in One Cookie showcase Goodman's ability to tantalize even reluctant readers by ferreting out interesting facts about a wide variety of subjects. Many books find the author collaborating with photographer Michael J. Doolittle. Reviewing their basic introduction to Antarctica, published as Life on the Ice, School Library Journal reviewer Amelia Jenkins praised the work as an "appealing collaboration" in which the coauthors' "simplifications of a complex subject work."

Ultimate Field Trip 2: Digging into Southwest Archaeology, another of Goodman's contributions to the "Ultimate Field Trip" series, focus on a group of eighth graders participating in an excavation at Mesa Verdi National Park in the Four Corners region of the U.S. southwest. The book recounts the week the students spend digging at the site and discovering new things about the Puebloans, the indigenous people who once lived there. Although Ultimate Field Trip 2 was described as a "cheerful jumble" by Ilene Cooper in Booklist, Horn Book reviewer Margaret A. Bush took issue with the book's "lack of maps and … clutter of design elements." Bush went on to note, however, that Goodman takes "a felicitous and ambitious approach" to her subject "that will whet the interest of many readers." Ultimate Field Trip 5 follows a group of young people undergoing an astronaut training program similar to the regular training program of professional astronauts. School Library Journal reviewer Betsy Barnett called the book "an appealing offering for general readers," noting that the artwork as well as the photographs by Doolittle are "artistically appealing as well as informative."

The Great Antler Auction, Chopsticks for My Noodle Soup: Eliza's Life in Malaysia, Claws, Coats, and Camouflage: The Ways Animals Fit into Their Worlds, and Seeds, Stems, and Stamens: The Ways Plants Fit into Their Worlds are also the result of Goodman and Doolittle's collaboration. Geared for readers in the upper elementary grades, The Great Antler Auction details the annual search by a group of Boy Scouts through the National Elk Refuge, their goal to retrieve discarded antlers that can be auctioned to the public. Money made from their annual auction is used to purchase food for the refuge to help its animals survive the winter. In her book Goodman describes the life of the elk, as well as the history of the auction and the many uses for antlers. Booklist critic Susan DeRonne claimed that The Great Antler Auction "will spark interest in animal lovers of an even wider age range."

"Creative and inviting" is the way Carolyn Jenks described Seeds, Stems, and Stamens in her School Library Journal review of the book, which details the ways plants interact within the environment. Questions as well as photographs showing the development of specific plants' progress appear on each page. Jenks wrote that Doolittle and Goodman's "presentation may inspire readers to continue questioning and to go on to other books and resources to satisfy their curiosity."

Also for upper elementary-grade readers, Claws, Coats, and Camouflage mirrors the premise of Seeds, Stems, and Stamens, applying it this time to animals by describing how various living creatures fit into the environment. School Library Journal contributor Sally Bates Goodroe claimed that Doolittle's "bright photographs will draw students to this book," and that Goodman's "sound-bite approach" to her subject-matter may be more appropriate for "browsing than reports."

The titles of The Truth about Poop and Gee Whiz! are guaranteed to attract readers, and in both works Goodman's text is accented by Elwood H. Smith's "jaunty, sometimes silly cartoon-style illustrations," according to Booklist critic Ilene Cooper. In The Truth about Poop Goodman discusses how animals process and recycle the many different foods they ingest, and includes the history of human bathroom facilities and sewage systems. The companion volume also begins with the way urine is generated, then reveals the many uses both animals and resourceful humans have found for the substance. In School Library Journal Christine Markley praised Goodman's "clever wordplay" and ability to assemble interesting factoids and pee-related stories in Gee Whiz!, while a Kirkus Reviews writer described the book's text as "redolent with both wisecracks and well-digested research." "Naturally, kids will find all this marvelously gross," wrote Cooper in a review of The Truth about Poop, "but along with the yuks, they'll get plenty of information." In School Library Journal Rachel G. Payne also praised the book as "chock-full of intriguing, gross, and bizarre facts about animal and human excrement."

Goodman's first work of historical fiction, Cora Frear: A True Story, is also the first installment in the "Brave Kids: True Stories from America's Past" series. Based on an actual diary, the book focuses on a young girl living in the late-nineteenth-century Midwest. One day, as Cora accompanies her father, a doctor, on his house calls, a prairie fire breaks out. Pat Leach, reviewing the book for School Library Journal, likened Goodman's "straightforward style" to that of "Little House on the Prairie" author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Leach stated that Cora Frear would make "a great stepping stone" for more advanced works of historical fiction.

Other books in the "Brave Kids" chapter-book series include Robert Henry Hendershot and Hazelle Boxberg. Robert Henry Hendershot introduces readers to the twelve-year-old boy who went down in U.S. Civil War history as the "Drummer boy of the Rappahannock," After running away from home to join the Union Army, Hendershot was on the field during the Battle of Fredericksburg in the winter of 1862. Capturing a Confederate soldier, he eventually met President Abraham Lincoln. Noting that in her fictionalization of actual events, Goodman remains "true to the essence of Robert's actual story," a Kirkus Reviews writer added that Robert Henry Hendershot is "a solid offering for young readers." Moving foreword in time to 1918, Hazelle Boxberg introduces an eleven-year-old New York City orphan who joins many other children on an orphan train headed for Texas. In this story, Goodman brings to life the orphan-train system, whereby urban children were sent to rural homes where they sometimes became family members but often were treated like servants or, as in Hazelle's case, trained to care for childless couples in their old age.

From the history of people, Goodman moves to the history of a building in Skyscraper: From the Ground Up. In this work, her text follows Doolittle's photo essay about the building of New York City's Random House building. Facts about the building process, as well as a description of the many duties performed by members of the building's construction crew, both figure in her simple text, which "conveys both respect for the builders and awe at the precision and effort" needed to undertake the project, in the opinion of Horn Book contributor Betty Carter. In School Library Journal Delia Fritz noted in particular the book's appeal to reluctant readers, and added that Goodman and Doolittle's "visual time line" incorporates comments from everyone involved, from the architect and building engineers to masons, signalmen, and others whose labor helped a skyscraper rise from a city lot. Also citing Goodman's inclusion of "moving quotes" from those involved in highrise construction, Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg concluded that Skyscraper melds a "graceful, clear

text and exciting color photos" into a "thoughtful, well-composed offering."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of Ultimate Field Trip 5: Blasting off to Space Academy, p. 1676; September 1, 1996, Susan DeRonne, review of The Great Antler Auction, p. 121; June 1, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Stones, Bones, and Petroglyphs: Digging into Southwest Archaeology, p. 1754; May 1, 2003, Carolyn Phelan, review of Nature Did It First!, p. 1620; May 15, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of Robert Henry Hendershot, p. 1665; May 15, 2004, Ilene Cooper, review of The Truth about Poop, p. 1616; June 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of On This Spot: An Expedition Back through Time, p. 1735; December 1, 2004, Gillian Engberg, review of Skyscraper: From the Ground Up, p. 668; March 15, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Life on the Ice, p. 45; November 1, 2006, Ilene Cooper, review of Gee Whiz!: It's all about Pee, p. 47.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June, 2004, Deborah Stevenson, review of The Truth about Poop, p. 418; October, 2006, Deborah Stevenson, review of Gee Whiz!, p. 69.

Horn Book, March-April, 1998, Margaret A. Bush, review of Stones, Bones, and Petroglyphs, p. 234; January-February, 2005, Betty Carter, review of Skyscraper, p. 110.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2003, review of Robert Henry Hendershot, p. 229; February 15, 2004, review of On This Spot, p. 178; April 15, 2004, review of The Truth about Poop, p. 393; May 1, 2006, review of All in Just One Cookie, p. 458; August 1, 2006, review of Gee Whiz!, p. 786.

Publishers Weekly, April 8, 2002, review of Cora Frear: A True Story, p. 228; June 7, 2004, review of The Truth about Poop, p. 50.

School Library Journal, June, 2001, Betsy Barnett, review of Ultimate Field Trip 5, pp. 171-172; November, 2001, Carolyn Jenks, review of Seeds, Stems, and Stamens: The Ways Plants Fit into Their World, p. 146; November, 2001, Sally Bates Goodroe, review of Claws, Coats, and Camouflage: The Ways Animals Fit into Their World, p. 156; August, 2002, Pat Leach, review of Cora Frear, p. 156; February, 2003, Melinda Piehler, review of What Do You Do at the Zoo?, p. 111; October, 2003, Pat Leach, review of Robert Henry Hendershot, p. 125; July, 2004, Rachel G. Payne, review of The Truth about Poop, p. 93; December, 2004, Jane Barrer, review of On This Spot, p. 130; February, 2004, Delia Fritz, review of Skyscraper, p. 147; August, 2006, Linda L. Walkins, review of All in Just One Cookie, p. 87, and Amelia Jenkins, review of Life on the Ice, p. 104; November, 2006, Christine Markley, review of Gee Whiz!, p. 120.