Kathy Darling

In Her Own Words... "Kathy and Tara Darling collaborate on children's books that focus on rare and endangered wildlife. To their knowledge, they are the world's only mother/daughter wildlife writer/photographer team. "Although they are mother and daughter, they work as equal partners. Tara explains, "We complement each other. I see in photographic images and Mother sees in word pictures. These two different views grow together as we work on a project, until the words and photos blend into one...See more

In Her Own Words... "Kathy and Tara Darling collaborate on children's books that focus on rare and endangered wildlife. To their knowledge, they are the world's only mother/daughter wildlife writer/photographer team. "Although they are mother and daughter, they work as equal partners. Tara explains, "We complement each other. I see in photographic images and Mother sees in word pictures. These two different views grow together as we work on a project, until the words and photos blend into one single statement." "The Darlings studied the manatees of Crystal River, Florida, over a period of two years as they prepared Manatee: On Location, the first book in the prize-winning On Location series. The arctic wilderness of Round Island, Alaska, the site of their second book for Lothrop, Walrus: On Location, tested togetherness as they sat in a tiny wet tent and waited out violent storms. There were scary moments in Belize when Kathy was attacked by a vampire bat and in Australia when Tara had the seat of her pants ripped out by a sea lion bull. But, they write, "we think making young people aware of the danger the animals are in more than outweighs any danger we might face. We care, and we hope through our words and pictures that we will get young people to care too. Maybe some will even care enough to choose this career for themselves." "Together, the Darlings have done twenty books about animals as exotic as Tasmanian devils and as familiar as dogs. Kathy Darling has written scores of books. Her subjects have ranged from the animals she writes about in her books with Tara to the experiments in chemistry and physics she writes about with Vicki Cobb in Wanna Bet?, Bet You Can!, and Bet You Can't!. Her interest in science began as a child, and in college she majored in biology. In addition to being a writer, Mrs. Darling has been a children's book editor, a publicist, and a syndicated newspaper columnist. "Tara Darling studied marine biology at Boston University and worked with penguins and otters at the New England Aquarium. After several years of doing TV research in a New York office, she realized that capturing the lives of endangered animals on film was work that was infinitely more rewarding to her. A member of the Professional Photographers of America, her credits include a CD-ROM about dogs, as well as numerous magazine covers." See less