Lisa Kahn Schnell writes about her new picture book published on 14 April by Charlesbridge Publishing.
“Horseshoe crabs?!? Why did you want to write about them?” I’ve been asked, more than once. The question is always accompanied by an expectant look: there is a reason, right?
Sort of. Like many children, if I ever thought of horseshoe crabs at all, it was mostly while I pried sharp bits of their shells out of my sand castles, or while I plugged my nose near the animals’ stinky remains. Then one morning a few years ago, I came across the beautiful track a single horseshoe crab left as it dragged itself back toward the water. Poignant, I thought. What’s up with these guys, anyway?
At the time, I was exploring ideas for a new research project. I wanted to write about a natural phenomenon that not only fascinated me, but that I connected with at a more personal level, too. And I wanted to share what I learned with children (and adults!) in a way that would encourage them to go out and see it for themselves.
A little internet searching and a few hundred pages of reading later, I knew that in horseshoe crabs, I’d met my match.
Natural phenomenon? Check! Horseshoe crabs have predictable mass-spawning events (high tide, under the springtime new or full moon—so romantic!). Clouds of shorebirds—and a long list of other animals—gather to gobble up horseshoe crab eggs. Some of the birds eat so many tiny eggs that they double their body weight in two weeks.
Fascinating? Absolutely! Horseshoe crabs and their ancestors have been on the planet for hundreds of millions of years. They’re much older than even the oldest of the dinosaurs. I also discovered that we humans are utterly reliant on horseshoe crabs for our health. Who knew? A simple test using a chemical derived from horseshoe crab blood ensures that everything from vaccines and needles to pacemakers and replacement knees are free of harmful bacteria. The same chemical (Limulus amoebocyte lysate) is even used by astronauts to make sure spaceships are not contaminated.
The challenge, as I saw it, was to make horseshoe crabs feel as alive for a kid in Chicago or Canterbury as if that child was actually there on the ocean’s edge. (Bonus: the book comes sans biting flies and the inevitable sand in bad places. Yay!). I volunteered to help out with research so I could watch the birds and horseshoe crabs up-close myself. Those experiences made the writing process much easier--and much more fun!
This was my first time through the picture-book-creation process, and it was a terrific opportunity to learn how much teamwork goes into making a picture book. It turns out that the intertwined relationships horseshoe crabs have with shorebirds, humans, and other animals are similar to the relationships required to create a picture book.
Once my manuscript was accepted, the editor helped me polish it. Then the publisher recruited Alan to bring the story to life visually. I loved the way Alan used my words as a jumping off point for sketches, and then graciously responded to the feedback of some very exacting experts. The art director, marketing experts, and others have worked together over the past couple years to make the book possible. I’m thankful to have had such a wonderful team to work with while creating High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs. Now we can more easily tell the world about this incredible creature.
So in answer to that expectant look, I wrote about horseshoe crabs because they fascinate me, and because they have a lot to teach me. But mostly I wrote about horseshoe crabs because I fell in love with them. Now I hope you do, too.
Illustrations by Alan Marks
