When Kathryn Hoppe is not teaching Geology, Oceanography, and Interdisciplinary Sciences full-time at Green River Community College, she is writing books about dinosaurs for kids.

Hoppe, who writes under the pen name of Charlotte Lewis Brown, has written three beginning readers that focus on using dinosaurs and other interesting fossils to get kids excited about reading. "My editor calls the books 'A science lesson disguised as exciting B-movies' ", said Hoppe.

Hoppe has always been interested in how to make science accessible to everyone. "My scientific training is in geology and paleontology - I studied mammoths and mastodons, as well as a range of smaller fossils, including fossil horses and giant clams (they were 3 feet across)."

Hoppe started writing for children while working at the Detroit Free Press, where she answered science questions from schoolchildren. In the mid 1990s, she heard that some editors at HarperCollins Children’s Book’s were looking for someone to write a book about the theory that suggests the dinosaurs went extinct when a giant asteroid collided with Earth.

"Their original idea was that this story could be told in a dynamic way that would make beginning readers want to pick up the book and keep reading. I submitted a manuscript and many re-writes later, the book was published as The Day the Dinosaurs Died. After the first book was in production, I was offered the opportunity to write two more books about animals found in the fossil record. These books became After the Dinosaurs: Mammoths and other Fossil Mammals, and Beyond the Dinosaurs: Monsters of the Air and Sea."

Hoppe's favorite part about working on these books has been hearing from children who enjoy reading the stories and the parents who enjoy sharing the books.

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