Barbara Renner

Barbara and her husband used to visit Minnesota in the summer to escape the heat of the desert. This is where she fell in love with their state bird, the Common Loon, and researched their habitat and folklore history. The result was publication of four picture books about Lonnie the Loon growing up. As a retired teacher, she believes in life-long learning, so her informational fiction picture books include facts about the wildlife in her stories. While in Minnesota she heard that Trumpeter Swans used to be on the endangered species list. Her friends at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge told her how Trumpeter Swan eggs were flown from Alaska to Minnesota to be incubated. Now there are over 17,000 Trumpeters in the refuge. This is where she launched her first book about Trumpeter Swans building a nest. In the summer of 2021 she will be launching a second Trumpeter Swan book called "Summer! Time to Search for Food."