Children’s Books

Reading "Rainbow Zoo"Lucy’s first children’s picture book, Chain Letter, based on her poem “Letter from St. Jude,” was published by Heyday Books in 2005. The book chronicles the adventures of a fanciful chain letter that visits the Galapagos Islands, the Statue of Liberty, the Tower of London, and other places. Chain Letter implicitly warns children about the silliness of superstition. Doug Dworkin’s illustrations follow the chain letter’s amazing journeys. Lucy dedicated this book to her first two grandchildren, Brandon and Sabine.

In 2006 and 2010, respectively, Lucy’s grandchildren Autumn and Devlin were born. When Autumn was six years old, she said to Lucy, “You dedicated a book to Brandon and Sabine. How about one for Devlin and me?” The Rainbow Zoo, published by Scarlet Tanager Books in 2016, was born out of a visit Lucy made to the Oakland Zoo with Autumn and Devlin and is dedicated to them. A rhyming picture book, The Rainbow Zoo tells the story of two children, named Autumn and Devlin, visiting a magical zoo where the zebras’ stripes are green and red and the kangaroos have pink polka dots. Illustrator Gina Aoay Orosco’s delightful images show the story as it unfolds.

Books