A Mostly Kids Guide to the Everglades
RACHEL RECOMMENDS: A Mostly Kids’ Guide to Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades written by Karen T. Bartlett
I was so excited to receive my first review copy of a book, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to interview the author. I’ve also never interviewed anyone before. So I did a phone interview with Karen Bartlett, who wrote A Mostly Kids’ Guide to Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades. Here are some of the questions and answers from that fascinating interview. I found out about a bunch of fun things to do in Naples that I never knew about before.
Rachel: What inspired you to write this book?
Karen Bartlett: I have written, photographed, or edited 11 books, and they are all destination travel books. I did them for traditional publishers, and I had to follow all of their rules. After a while, I decided that I didn’t like having to put only 30 word captions under every picture. I wanted to color outside the lines a little bit. I wanted to be able to scribble on the pictures and put type upside down. So I decided to do it for myself. Now I get to do anything I want. Of course, I have to pay all of the bills and meet all of the deadlines, but there’s nobody to tell me I can’t do something. So I’m having fun.
This time I decided to do something that’s a destination book for kids rather than grownups. It’s a guidebook but it’s not a typical guidebook. And it’s not a storybook. People look at the cover and say “This looks like a cool kids’ storybook.” And then they’ll open it up, and see it’s not really a storybook. On the other hand, you’ll see stories about pirates, and the Calusa Indians. Did you know, for instance, that Ponce de Leon was killed by a Calusa Indian arrow? I sure didn’t. This book is educational, but it’s fun. It’s not a storybook but it has stories. It’s a guidebook but it’s not. It’s hard to decide exactly what it is. You have to decide for yourself.
Kids don’t want to read the directions to get someplace or how much it costs or the hours they are open. They all have devices, so they can go to their phone or ipad and look up the website or phone number and get the current information. I didn’t want to waste a lot of time on stuff kids don’t really want to read, so I’ve stuck all of that in back (each location mentioned in the book is listed alphabetically in the back, along with website addresses and phone numbers). My feeling is, kids want to see really cool pictures and they want to find out something bizarre that they didn’t know before.
Kids don’t want guidebooks. They want to have fun, they want to see it fast and decide if they like it, and then turn the page. And that’s exactly what I’ve done.
Rachel: How did you get started in writing?
Karen Bartlett: When I got out of college, I went to a newspaper office to apply (Atlanta Journal Constitution), and back in those days in a newspaper office, everyone’s just sitting out in one big office. I was afraid I couldn’t write in a giant noisy newsroom, so I did the next best thing. After a couple of non-newspaper jobs, where I got to do a little bit of writing, I started my own advertising agency and gave myself an office with an actual door I could close, to write my heart out in peace and quiet!
Rachel: What is your favorite place to visit in the book?
Karen Bartlett: It depends. I’m a photographer, too, and if the early morning light is beautiful and I’m in a flowery mood, I will go to the Naples Botanical Gardens. If I’m in a hiking mood, I’ll put on my hiking shoes and my little photographer’s vest, and I’ll go down into the Everglades, and maybe take an airboat ride or camp out in one of those chickee huts down there. How many people know that you can actually camp in an authentic Seminole chickee hut on their reservation? It just depends on the mood I’m in. And that’s what is good about this book.
Rachel: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Karen Bartlett: Don’t follow all the rules. Think for yourself. I mean, that’s why you’re a writer, because you have these ideas. Sometimes you’re just minding your own business and an idea pops up, and you think, “Where did that come from?” That’s why you are a writer. That’s why you are a creative person. So listen to yourself and don’t follow everyone’s rules. Color outside the lines sometimes and draw stick people if you want to.
Karen Bartlett’s next book, A Mostly Kids’ Guide to Sanibel and Captiva Islands and the Fort Myers Coast, is coming out in mid-January.
Rachel Newman is 10 years old and in the fifth grade at Sea Gate Elementary. She is active in Irish dancing, piano, flute, acting and volleyball. Writing, reading, and watching “I Love Lucy” are her great joys, along with taking pictures of her cats.
If you have suggestions for books for Rachel to review, e-mail your suggestions to: rachel.v.newman@outlook.com.