Parkite Melissa Marsted, owner of Lucky Penny Press, started publishing her “Wildlife Adventures for Young Readers” books in 2015. The series, seen through the eyes of wildlife characters such as Buzzy the Bee, a western firefly named Lucy and an American pika named Molley, to name a few, ha s taken youths and adults to the United States’ Red Rock canyons in the southwest, marsh in Logan and national parks in the country’s northwestern region. Marsted’s books are available through Amazon and Lucky Penny Press as well as in local libraries, bookstores, various nature centers and national park visitor centers.  “Lately, I’ve been putting all of my books in canvas cases and randomly sending them out to places,” she said. One of the places was the Children’s Book Council, a nonprofit trade association of book publishers established in the mid 1940s that is dedicated to supporting the industry and promoting children’s books and reading. “They invite publishers to become members, and they invited us,” Marsted said. The council sent Marsted a questionnaire she had to fill out in order to be considered for membership. It asked for the background of Lucky Penny Press, how the publishing company has evolved and what its priorities are. After submitting the answers earlier this week, Lucky Penny Press information is already listed in the council’s publishers’ list, which opens new doors for Marsted. “They have a competition for new books,” she said. That news comes in a timely manner, because Marsted has finished her 13th “Wildlife Adventures for Young Readers” book, called “Flora’s Winged Adventure.” The book follows a monarch butterfly named Flora on her migration from Canada to Mexico via the Appalachian Trail. While the book has yet to be published physically, the digital copy is done, Marsted said. “I can submit the eBook,” she said. Alexandra Lehner, who illustrated Marsted’s 2025 book “Rascal’s Year of Adventures,” not only did the art for “Flora,” but also cowrote the book. “She is a U.S. Forest Service wildlife technician, and she knew a lot about butterflies,” Marsted said. For the eBook, Marsted recruited a narrator through fiverr.com, a resource website for businesses. “I had a friend who helps me update Lucky Penny’s website, and he said I should find an audio book narrator on Fiverr,” Marsted said. “So, I found this woman in Los Angeles, and she has already done recording for five of my books.” Marsted isn’t comfortable releasing the narrator’s name until the recordings, including the text for “Flora,” are in the can. “I had just given her ‘Flora,’ and she’s working on it now,” she said. In addition to this first contest, the Children’s Book Council will send Marsted a list of schools from across the country for another competition. “We can then send the book to these schools, and the students will cast their votes,” she said. “So, we’re minutely editing right now, just tiny little things, and I don’t know exactly when we’ll hear back about how the kids voted.” Marsted established Lucky Penny Press as an iPad app in 2010.  “When I originally started Lucky Penny, it was just eBooks and audio books,” she said. Marsted turned to physical books in 2015 and published her 2016 title, “Buzzy and the Red Rock Canyons,” which was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service that year. Over the years, Marsted has focused on the National Parks and National Forests west of the Continental Divide, so with her new book, “Flora’s Winged Adventure,” she decided to examine the East Coast, where she grew up. “I found out there’s a route butterflies travel that goes south from Maine into Mexico,” said the author, who likes to travel with her dog Clover, to the sites that can be found in her books. “So, I decided to follow the Appalachian Trail and hit the areas that have national-park orientations along the way.”  The route turns and flows through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana once it hits Springer Mountain, in Georgia, according to Marsted. “Then the route crosses into Texas and then down into Mexico,” she said. While Marsted awaits the results of the two contests, she’s on the front lines promoting the book series and scheduling author readings. “I also have a passion to take the books to rural schools and libraries, where I like to do readings,” she said. “I’ve been to all 29 counties in Utah, and the smallest school I’ve read to so far was in Hanksville. The entire school was one classroom.” Marsted plans to drive a day trip next week. “I have been in touch with libraries in the towns of Bicknell and Roosevelt, and I’ll hopefully have my first reading in those places scheduled soon,” she said. For information about Melissa Marsted, Lucky Penny Press and the ‘Wildlife Adventures for Young Readers,’ visit luckypennypublications.com. The post Lucky Penny Press finds good fortune with the Children’s Book Council appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less