Books

My new children’s book was released by Boyds Mills Press this month. Q readers will recognize the characters of this nonfiction photo essay: Rena the Akbash, Roo the wild burro, and six orphan lambs they raised on our ranch in western Wyoming. It was fun to watch and photograph all three species as they grew up together. I’m thankful that the book has been getting good reviews in the children’s literature world. You can order copies from your favorite independent bookstore, and from online sources such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Regular Q readers wanting personalized copies can shoot me an email with details to catu2 at mac dot com and I’ll mail the book, along with an invoice.

Q readers may also recall that last year I camped on Wyoming’s rangelands while my ewe herd was giving birth, and I was busy writing a book about the experience. I’m thrilled to report that the book has found a publishing home, so the next few months will be busy ones as we work on revisions, with the release date set for Fall 2012 (with Countryman Press, a division of W.W. Norton of New York). The book will include many of my best images, while it tells the story of the daily life of a sheepherder in the Rocky Mountains, with descriptions of interactions in the natural world on this shared range, and reflections on pastoralists around the globe. I’m fortunate to be paired with a great editor – one who worked on a Montana cattle ranch, and has fond memories of time spent in Kazakhstan.