Author Archives: Rosanne Parry

A Horse Named Sky and friends

A Horse Named Sky is out in paperback this week. I’m thrilled to see a little sneak preview of A Wolf Called Fire in the back of this edition. Big thanks to Kirbi Fagan for her gorgeous art. I’ve been doing radio interviews all day chatting about this book, so here on the blog I’d like to take a moment to highlight some other new horse books that I think young readers will love.

First up is Sierra Blue by Suzanne Morgan Williams. It’s a story about a girl with a unique ability to connect with injured horses and a race horse that desperately needs her.

Fans of history will love the well-researched and thrilling story of how the famous Lipizzaner horses of the Spanish Riding School were rescued from the bombing of Vienna during WWII. It’s called They Saved the Stallions by Deborah Hopkinson.

I’ve long been a fan of the Phantom Stallion series by Terri Farley. It’s set in the same ecosystem as A Horse Named Sky. Terri is a life long advocate for wild horses and her writing in this series is brilliant. I’m so happy so see it reissued.

Finally, if you are looking for a good riding academy story you’ll love Jessica Burkhart’s new series, Saddle Hill Academy. The first four titles are out and I hope there will be many more.

And because I’m such a fan of picture book non fiction, I can’t pass up the opportunity to sing the praises of Horse Power: how horses changed the world, written and illustrated by the brilliant Jennifer Thermes.

Oregon Spirit Book Award 2024

More great news! A Horse Named Sky has been awarded the 2024 Oregon Spirit Book Award by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English. I’m so grateful for all the hours they poured into choosing a great slate of locally grown books to highlight. I am even more grateful for all they do to support the teachers that make literacy happen year after year in spite of mounting obstacles.

My thanks also to illustrator Kirby Fagan who brilliantly captured the landscape of the Great Basin, Virginia Range, and Sierra Nevada, and the many moods of Sky and his family. Horses are not easy to draw. I’m so glad they chose you to illustrate. Thanks to the lovely team at Greenwillow for once again crafting a gorgeous book.

A Horse Named Sky will be going to paperback at the end of August, and as always, if you are looking for a signed and personalized copy, please contact Annie Blooms bookstore to arrange it. We ship anywhere in the US.

A Wolf Called Fire

Friends, I’m thrilled to announce that my next middle grade novel, A Wolf Called Fire, will be available on February 4th, 2025. The story will be illustrated by the brilliant Mónica Armiño and the luminous cover below was created by Cindy Derby.

For years young readers of A Wolf Called Wander have asked, often plaintively, “but what about Wander’s brother?” “Why did he have to die?” “Where did he go?” It’s a rare gift to find readers so invested in someone who was not even the main character. I know that Wander had to think his brother was gone forever or he would never undertake his great journey. But I couldn’t bear for him to see his brother die, so (against the urging of my editor) I left that part of the story open; I’m so glad I did.

It has been more than ten years since I did the research for A Wolf Called Wander which came out in 2019. We’ve learned a lot about wolves and about wolf pack dynamics in the years since. The character of Fire was inspired by Wolf 8, one of the first wolves brought back to Yellowstone Park 29 years ago. Like Warm, who grew into his adult name Fire, Wolf 8 was the omega of his pack. He was small, not especially handsome, and frequently bullied by his brothers. He grew up to be a wise and compassionate leader, a gifted mentor of pups, and a fierce competitor who never killed a wolf he defeated. Wolf 8 became the patriarch of the largest and most powerful pack in Yellowstone’s history the mighty Druid Peak pack. From that lived example of leadership, I created a young omega who listens well to his mother and learns from hard earned experience the first thing she ever told him: “Big is not the only good thing a wolf can be.”

I hope this story will inspire readers to love the wilderness and to become what ever kind of leader they were meant to be.

Many thanks to my talented and tenacious agent Fiona Kenshole of Transatlantic, the wonderful team at Greenwillow, including my editor Virginia Duncan and art director Sylvie Le’ Floc’h, my critique partners, Nora Ericson and Michael Gettle-Gilmartin, and my patient and supportive family.

A Book Birthday for The Wolf Effect

I’m so thrilled to share the launch of my first non-fiction picture book The Wolf Effect: a wilderness revival story. I will be in conversation with Leslie Bernard Booth and her new book One Day This Tree Will Fall. They are both books about environmental renewal–a topic we are both passionate about. Come see us at Annie Blooms Bookstore at 7pm on Tuesday May 7th. 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland Oregon 97219

book cover The Wolf Effect, a gray wolf stands on a hilltop and howls into a deep blue sky