Thanks to the Children’s Literacy Foundation grant, we’re excited to announce a Friday, Oct 24 visit by author and naturalist Susie Spikol! Spikol will present and read to the students at Troy Elementary School as part of CLiF’s mission of promoting literacy in rural communities.

Ever since she can remember, Spikol has always looked for where nature and story meet. Her love of nature didn’t start with science. It grew out of a rich diet of fairy tales and legends. While out searching for fairies, gnomes, and other magical creatures, she remembers being charmed by fireflies and enchanted by snails. Over the course of her 30-year career as an award-winning naturalist, she has taught thousands of children, parents, and teachers and given hundreds of public talks at nature centers, schools, colleges, universities, libraries, and conferences. When not catching frogs with preschoolers, tracking bobcats with middle-schoolers, or hawk-watching with her own three children, Susie tucks away to time to write. Her first children’s book, The Animal Adventurer’s Guide, came out in 2022. Her new book, Forest Magic for Kids, released in April 2025, followed by her Book of Fairies in September.