The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Mary Boone 2025
Mary Boone has DNA tested salmon, hung out with a boy band, and baked dozens of cricket cookies – all in the interest of research for her books and magazine articles.
Prior to becoming an author, Mary was a newspaper reporter. She lives in Tacoma, Washington, where she loves being outdoors and hanging out with her very energetic Airedale Terrier, Ruthie Bader.
Mary’s the author of over 71 nonfiction books for young readers, including School of Fish, illustrated by Milena Godoy (2024), 10 Ways to Use Less Plastic (Simple Steps to Help the Planet) (2024), Bugs for Breakfast: How Eating Insects Could Help Save the World (Chicago Review Press, 2021), Day and Night in the Savanna (2022), Day and Night on the Tundra (2022), I Can Care for Nature (2019), Let's Look at Colombia (Let's Look at Countries) (2019), and Mae Jemison: A 4D Book (2018).
Her newest picture book, Pedal Pusher: How One Woman’s Bicycle Adventure Helped Change the World, illustrated by Lisa Anchin, releases from Henry Holt & Co. on February 18th.
Welcome Mary, thank you so much for stopping back by to talk about your picture book and your writing.
Having written a number of nonfiction picture books, what is your research process? Did it change at all for Pedal Pusher: How One Woman’s Bicycle Adventure Helped Change the World?
I love hands-on research. Going, seeing, touching. Because I don’t own a time machine, there was less of that for Pedal Pusher. I did seek out opportunities to visit museums to see women’s clothing and bicycles from the late 1800s. Because I hadn’t ridden a single-speed bike since I was a kid, I tracked one down because I wanted to remember how hard it is to pedal without the luxury of gears. I also read dozens of newspaper accounts of Annie’s adventure. I wanted a sense of people’s impressions of her at the time – plus, newspapers from the 1890s are a hoot!
What was your spark of curiosity or inspiration or spark of interest for Pedal Pusher?
A writing friend of mine handed me a calendar page from a Women in History calendar because she thought I might have some interest in the featured woman: Annie Cohen Kopchovsky. I put the page in my desk drawer and found it when I was doing some tidying about a year later. I started researching that day and she was right. I immediately fell in love with Annie and her story.
That sounds like a great calendar. Was there any difference in writing a nonfiction biography for the traditional (versus educational) market?
Writing a nonfiction biography for the traditional market, at least in my experience, is a more creative experience. With educational publishers, you’re often asked to adhere to certain learning standards and word choice is restricted by Lexile level. Those restrictions don’t exist with traditionally published picture books.
Interesting distinction. I can see how the added freedom of word choice and structure could be freeing and appealing. How long did it take from the first draft to publication for Pedal Pusher?
I wrote the first draft of Pedal Pusher in early 2020 and revised throughout the beginning of that year. It went on submission that fall, and we got an offer from Henry Holt in early 2021. The editorial process was so simple and straight forward. I think we changed just five or six words from the manuscript I submitted.
The book was originally slated for release in Spring 2023 but it took some time to get an illustrator lined up. Once the incredibly talented Lisa Anchin came on board, our pub date was moved back to Fall 2024. And, here we are in early 2025. Has this been a test of my patience? Absolutely, yes. Am I thrilled with the final product? Yes. Good things are worth waiting for!
Congrats on having such a smooth editorial process, that's kind of unusual. What was the toughest aspect of researching and/ or writing Pedal Pusher? And what was the most fun or fascinating part?
The toughest part for me is that no one seems to agree about how far Annie actually rode her bike. Part of this challenge involved raising money along the way, so Annie sold tickets to lectures where she talked about her adventures. Of course, the more fantastic her stories were, the more people wanted to hear from her. It’s pretty widely accepted that she made up or at least exaggerated many of her tales. Getting that message across to kids without celebrating fibbing was a challenge for me.
Figuring out what's real and what's exaggerated from history can be quite a challenge. When you first saw Lisa Anchin’s illustrations did anything surprise or amaze you? Which is your favorite spread?
My editor at Holt, Kate Farrell, came to me with the names of three illustrators they were considering for this book. Their work was beautiful, but none of them illustrated in a style I thought was consistent with Annie and her story. I dug into my list of dream illustrators and sent Kate three suggestions – Lisa’s name was at the top of the list. I jumped up and down when I found out she agreed to join me on this adventure.
Text © Mary Boone, 2025. Image © Lisa Anchin, 2025.
All that said, I thought I had a sense of what Lisa’s illustrations would be like, and they exceeded my expectations in every way. I love every spread, but my favorite may be the very last. It was important to me to tie what Annie did to the present, but I wasn’t sure what they would look like. Contrasting Annie in her bloomers to a modern mom biking with her child, well, that blew me away. It’s perfect.
I think Lisa did a great job drawing the connection from Annie to the present. Is there anything you want your readers to know about or gain from Pedal Pusher?
While this story focuses on an around-the-world cycling trip, Annie’s adventure was ground-breaking in some really important ways. In the 1890s, women were reliant on men for transportation. If a woman wanted to go to the store or to see a friend, a man hitched up the horses or drove the car. Bicycles changed that. They gave women freedom. And Annie played a big role in making that freedom possible.
Bicycles – and Annie – also led the way in changing women’s fashion. It’s hard to pedal to town in a long, full skirt and high-collared blouse.
So, yes, it’s story about a bike adventure – but it’s about more than that.
I love how Annie not only encouraged women to be more adventurous and self-reliant but also helped change the restrictive dress code. Are there any projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?
I am working on copyedits for a project I’m so, so excited about. Unfathomable is a middle-grade collection of 20 unbelievable but true stories related to our oceans and seas. There are stories about octopus wrestling, valuable whale poop, underwater cities, and more. It releases in February 2026 from Bright Matter Books/Penguin Random House
This sounds intriguing. We'll have to keep our eyes open for its release. Last question, what animal or natural feature (place) do you want to learn more about? Why?
I always want to know more about everything!
I recently learned about Greenland sharks and I’m fascinated. They live 300 to 500 years and live in the coldest, darkest depths of the Atlantic. The sharks grow and age so slowly, they aren’t thought to reach sexual maturity until they’re over a century old! How can I not want to know more about these creatures.
Wow - those sharks sound so fascinating! Thank you, Mary for stopping by and sharing your time and thoughts with us. It was wonderful to chat with you.
To find out more about Mary Boone, or contact her:
Website: https://www.boonewrites.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boonewrites/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marybooneauthor
X(Twitter): https://x.com/boonewrites
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