Author: Cedar Pruitt

Press Release: Wildfire Awareness Month – A Picture Book Resource

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/18/24

Cedar Pruitt, M.Ed.

https://www.CedarPruitt.com

WILDFIRE AWARENESS MONTH:

PICTURE BOOK ABOUT A REAL-LIFE SURPRISE DURING A WILDFIRE

Newton, MA. Wildfire is a major theme of the lyrical nonfiction STEM picture book FIRE FLIGHT: A WILDFIRE ESCAPE from leading publisher Capstone. This book, for ages 5-9, is an important resource during Wildfire Awareness Month as parents, teachers, policy makers and others discuss the topic of wildfire. Author Cedar Pruitt explores the true ripped-from-the-headlines story of an owl that flew out of a wildfire and into a firefighting helicopter, where it stayed for several water drops before flying out again. The pilot snapped an incredible photo, which is included in the book. 

In the clip linked below, the author is interviewed on a CBS morning show and discusses how FIRE FLIGHT provides opportunities to build literacy, awareness, and empathy – while inviting discussion about natural habitat and climate change.

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/creek-fire-owl-soaring-to-new-heights-in-new-childrens-book

“Thanks to this powerful photo, the owl’s story made headlines around the world,” says Pruitt. “I retold the story in spare, kid-friendly lyrical text to capture the suspense and danger of the moment, as well as the moment of connection between the pilot and the owl. I love the way that Chiara Fedele’s lush oil pastel illustrations bring my narrative to life. FIRE FLIGHT will hook readers who are curious about wildfire, firefighting, helicopters, climate change and natural habitats.”

“There are so many headlines these days that are scary or threatening, and kids notice,” she continued. “As a parent myself, I know the relief of finding a news story that is not only surprising and delightful, but also about connection and safety.”

As a work of easy-to-understand poetic nonfiction, FIRE FLIGHT is aligned with the recent recommendation from The National Council of Teachers of English, which urged educators to increase the amount of nonfiction in the lives of children in grades K-12. In a 2023 position paper, the NCTE wrote, “With so much to offer young people as readers and thinkers, nonfiction should play a far more robust role in the reading and learning lives of young people in and out of school.”

Pruitt’s second picture book, WHAT MARCEL FOUND: THE INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY OF THE LASCAUX CAVE PAINTINGS, with award-winning illustrator David Litchfield, will launch in Summer 2026 from Simon & Schuster’s Beach Lane Books imprint, and tells the story of the kids who discovered the world-changing cave art, made 30,000 years ago, while exploring a forest in war-torn occupied France during the fall of 1940. 

Features of FIRE FLIGHT include:

  • Real Photo, Real-life Story, Ripped from the Headlines. Good news can be hard to find among scary headlines, but this real-life story made headlines around the world due to the incredible photo taken by the helicopter pilot – and rendered in full detail in this book. 
  • Timely Connection to Climate + Natural Environment. Climate change is hard to ignore, even for young readers, and this book offers a gentle way to address the topic.  In an age of growing climate awareness, modern parents seek stories like this one that build meaningful and memorable connections between readers and the natural world. This book provides abundant opportunities to reflect on our collective experience as well as suggestions for kid-friendly climate action.
  • Firefighting + Helicopters. For kids excited about vehicles and firefighters, this book offers nonstop action – from the chop, chop, chop of the blades to the gush of water dropping on the flames below. 
  • Animal Connections and Kid Appeal. Kids love stories about special connections with animals, and they may even have a story of their own – making this theme timeless. Owls may as well have their own fan club! They are the subject of fascination for many children, and facts about owls never cease to amaze people of any age. Whether at a school visit, at a wildlife demonstration, or in the wild, most kids have encountered an owl; and the star of this book, the screech owl, is common in the Americas.
  • Lyrical Nonfiction. Cedar Pruitt’s spare, kid-friendly poetry tells a story that is by turns scary, heartwarming, humorous and empathetic. 
  • Lush Illustrations. Using colorful oil pastel, Chiara Fedele brings the reader up close to a terrible wildfire; inside a cockpit; over a heartbreakingly beautiful forest; and face to face with a nervous pilot and an unforgettable owl. 
  • Backmatter. Featuring an author’s note that educates readers about wildfires and climate change, as well as a view into the author’s inspiration for the story, FIRE FLIGHT offers a satisfying combination of art, story, insight, and heart. 

FIRE FLIGHT: A WILDFIRE ESCAPE can be pre-ordered now wherever books are sold, in hardcover with library binding at $18.99. The ISBN is 9781684468867.

For more information on this book, visit https://www.CedarPruitt.com

About Cedar Pruitt: Cedar Pruitt is the author of the children’s books FIRE FLIGHT: A Wildfire Escape from Capstone, about an owl’s real-life surprise ride in a firefighting helicopter, and the forthcoming WHAT MARCEL FOUND: The Incredible Discovery of the Lascaux Cave Paintings from Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster. Cedar Pruitt holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University and works as a senior consultant in the culture and leadership of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts with her family.
Twitter: @CedarsStories

Instagram: @CedarPruittBooks

URL Source in Text:

The National Council of Teachers of English

Position Statement on the Role of Nonfiction Literature (K–12)

https://ncte.org/statement/role-of-nonfiction-literature-k-12

The Circle of Story: A Special School and Author Visit

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Every story told is part of a circle. There’s the thing that happened, and what it inspired, but there’s so much more. In the case of FIRE FLIGHT: A Wildfire Escape, it all started with an owl. And a helicopter pilot. There was a fire that raged for months. There was a picture. There was a reporter. There was a pilot’s friend who told the reporter about the picture.

And because of the picture and the reporter and the pilot’s friend, the story of the owl and the pilot reached a writer –me!– on the other side of the country…a few days after the last flames were finally extinguished.

The pilot’s friend’s daughter is a teacher, and I got to read FIRE FLIGHT to her second grade class in Basin, Wyoming, this week. Thank you, Laura Irwin Elementary! And thank you to Ms. McClure, who said, “I love your book and the story it tells! It was so fun to talk about the story with my students and also use it as a way for them to learn about important events and how they affect both people and animals.”

Just like a story is part of a collective, so too is a book. I told the children all about the illustrator Chiara, and the art director Nate, and the editor Ali, and all the people at Capstone who work so hard to craft beautiful picture books that can be shared with the world. I told them about my agent, Mary – and how she helped launch this book and me so that my words could find these students and just maybe ignite their imaginations. And now, as readers, they too are part of the circle. I told them they were poets, and artists, and that maybe they would work on books and stories someday.

CBS Interview: FIRE FLIGHT on TV!

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Check out my interview on a CBS Morning News Show!

Watch the entire 2:39 minute interview right here!

This month, I had the great honor of being interviewed by accomplished journalist Mederios Babb, from KSEE24 News in Fresno, CA, who broke the first story of Fire Flight…

….yep, the news story that went viral.

Her article, in which she shared the original photo taken by firefighting pilot Dan Alpiner, led me to the NYTimes mention – and to write the poem that became this book. Now we’re all connected, and our circle widens to include every reader.

How’s that for a story-within-a-story?