Sneed Collard evolved over a life changing career in children's literature while on his way to becoming one of the today's leading children's authors. Sneed Collard's first book, Sea Snakes, was published in 1993, and since then he has published over forty-five books for children, including the award winning A Platypus, Probably; Beaks!; Animal Dads; One Night in the Coral Sea; and The Prairie Builders—Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands, winner of 2006 AAAS/Subaru/Science Books & Films Prize for Excellence in Science Books.
In 2006 Sneed's body of work was honored with The Washington Post's Children's Book Guild 2006 Children's Nonfiction Writer of the Year Award. Sneed's school visits focus on bringing the natural world to students in fun and engaging ways. With his extraordinary, award-winning non fiction, Sneed is showing young children the world that is all around them, yet which they otherwise might not experience so thoroughly. In addition to writing and visiting schools, Sneed also conducts teacher workshops and enjoys playing frisbee with his border collie Mattie.
Selected Reviews of Sneed's Books
Dog Sense: a Novel
Sneed Collard
Coffee, Montana is a long way from California and guy Martinez isn’t happy about the move. His Dad took off so his Mom moves the two of them to his Grandpop’s place. Luckily, Guy still has his faithful border collie, Streak, who learns to catch a Frisbee well enough to enter a contest. Guy is harassed at Big Sky Middle School by a bully named Brad but he learns to deal with him by the conclusion of the book. This book covers a multitude of topics such as competition, bullying, moving away, etc. The characters are believable and the Frisbee competition is exciting. Guy’s narrative holds the interest of the reader and you’ll root for Streak to win. Grandpa comes across as an important person who helps Guy acclimate to his new home. With animals, action, and antagonism, this book is an interesting read for the intermediate student. It belongs on the shelf of any elementary library. Category: Fiction-Dog Story. 2005, Peachtree Publishers, $14.95. Ages 8 to 11. Reviewer: Nancy Krial (The Kutztown Book Review, Fall 2006).
Teeth
Sneed Collard
Collard explores the types and function of teeth in a wide variety of creatures. Each page has a simple, informative statement about teeth in large type, followed by eight or nine lines of information in smaller type about the teeth of one particular creature, for example “Tusks are teeth” followed by “Atlantic Walrus. A walrus’s tusks grow...” The alkyd illustrations fill most of the space with naturalistic images that focus on each animal’s dental work. Most often we see the teeth in action, as an elephant grasps a bunch of grass or a hyena chews on a zebra’s leg. Occasionally we just see the teeth, as a hippo simply opens wide to display a set of growing incisors and canines. A grinning chimp shows surprisingly white, very human-looking teeth, with a note that this is a friendly grimace. There is information on the traditions about baby teeth in many countries. A glossary and a list of resources are included. 2008, Charlesbridge Publishing, $16.95. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
Wings
Sneed Collard
On single- and double-page spreads, Collard explores the wide variety of creatures that have wings. He analyzes the different kinds of wings, including colors and covering, number, and use. A simple statement about wings in large type is followed by a specific example and a detailed explanation of the particular creature in smaller type. The book ends with the wings we humans use to fly. Brickman’s remarkable paper sculptures both supply natural history and present the facts in sensitive aesthetic scenes. Whether creating flower petals or ladybird beetle’s hard shells, tropical foliage, or a vulture’s bicolor wings, she clearly conveys her subjects, like the wide variety of wings used by insects, birds, and a few mammals. Macaroni penguins are depicted in a convincing race to feed on a group of fish. We can sense the power of the loon as it thrusts itself out of the river, creating waves as it lifts off. Even bats take on an appealing appearance due to the artist’s choice of posture. There is a glossary; a list of sources is also added. 2008, Charlesbridge Publishing, $16.95. Ages 4 to 9. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
Sneed says about his school visits:
My school presentations focus on teaching children about the natural world in fun and stimulating ways. Even with large groups I try to make the talks interactive and get kids to think as well as observe. The talks are entertaining, employing humor, color slides and other visuals. An added bonus to my talks is that they cover reading, writing, and science so you get triple-duty out of me!
A day in a school depends on your needs, but usually consists of three full presentations plus book signing. My presentations run about 45-50 minutes including questions and answers and I like to start early in the day when students are fresh. I speak to all ages and offer different presentations for different age groups. Group sizes of up to 250 are no problem, so I can usually cover an entire elementary or middle school in a day.
Sneed's pricing schedule is as follows:
- $1800/day for one or two days (3 or 4 presentations/day)
- $1500/day for three or more days (3 presentations/day)
To learn more about Sneed and his publications, please click here.
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