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Springfield author to release children’s book on Champlain’s beluga whales BY KATY SAVAGE ksavage@eagletimes.com 30 min ago 0 Beluga book Springfield fourth-grade teacher and children's book author Erin Rounds. Courtesy SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Erin Rounds might not have written a book if it her students hadn’t complained during a history lesson. Her fourth grade students put up a fuss during a field trip to Massachusetts: there were no local or in-state fossils, no dinosaurs, nothing “cool” here. That’s when Rounds discovered a complex story about a beluga whale fossil found back in 1849 in a farmer’s field in Charlotte, Vermont. The whale bones, estimated to be more than 11,000 years old, dates back to after the last Ice Age when continental glaciers were melting. It’s the subject of Round’s first illustrated children’s book, “Charlotte’s Bones: A Beluga Whale in a Farmer’s Field.” There have been historical accounts of the whale written and published, but nothing for children. “It sort of struck me as, ‘Wow that would be a good story. That would be a good picture book,’” Rounds said. The fourth-grade teacher wrote the first draft of the story in less than a week. She pitched the book to publishers in 2014. After multiple rejections, multiple drafts and revisions and emails, the book will finally be available in print Aug. 7. “I always wanted to be a teacher, and I always wanted to be a writer so — dream fulfilled,” Rounds said. Rounds, 37, has been a teacher for the past 15 years. She taught fifth grade in The Bronx, New York for two years before teaching in Cavendish, Vermont for a year and then Union Street School in Springfield, where she’s been since 2006. Rounds has loved writing since second grade. She tried, unsuccessfully, to publish manuscripts she wrote in college, but something about the story about the whale in Vermont was eye-opening to her and eye-opening to publishers. Fran Hodgkins, an author who worked in design and production for Tilbury House Publishers, which ultimately published “Charlotte’s Bones,” remembers reading Rounds’ manuscript about four years ago. “When I read it I knew it was perfect,”Hodgkins said. “It’s a topic that seems improbable— a whale on top of a mountain.” Rounds incorporated the lengthy editing process she experienced in “Charlotte’s Bones” into her lesson plans. “All of my different classes along the way have been a part of it,” Rounds said. advertisement Rounds has two children of her own, ages 8 and 6. She said her teaching experience with young children has given her the skills to take complex themes and make them easy to understand. “A lot of my manuscripts are Vermont-based but naturally touched stories of the past, and I think that comes from teaching fourth grade and teaching history,” she said. Rounds is already thinking about her second book. Her second book called, “Where’s Winter?” will be published this fall. It’s about the effect of climate change on hibernating animals. Rounds got the idea for the story two winters ago. “I pulled into my driveway in February and there hadn’t been snow in weeks,” she said. “I ran inside and grabbed a Crayola marker and started writing and didn’t stop until I got it all out.” Both books highlight the change to the land over time. This year marks the 25 years since the beluga whale in Charlotte was declared the state fossil by a bill Gov. Howard Dean signed into law. Rounds and the illustrator of “Charlotte’s Bones,” Alison Carver of Maine, are hosting a launch event at Flying Pig Bookstore Aug. 7 from noon to 4 p.m. The date of the event also happens to be National Beach Party Day.
