As many of you know, my eldest daughter was born with a chromosomal deletion (4p-), also know as Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Before the day of her birth and the date of her diagnosis - about 10 years ago - I hadn’t given DNA too much thought. Suddenly, my husband and I were being asked so many questions… and asking so many, too —
Are you a carrier of Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome?
How big is her deletion?
Chromosomes have arms?
(The last question was mine!)
So much to learn. And yet, so much that simply was and is - the unique beauty and design of each person and each living thing.
Due to its complex nature, DNA is something that I haven’t discussed with our three girls, but I want to! I want them to better understand themselves and others and the natural world. Now, thanks to a new picture book on this very topic, I have an excellent way to start the conversation.
Meet THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU: ALL ABOUT YOUR DNA by Rajani LaRocca, MD, illustrated by Steven Salerno (little bee books), which publishes this week on Sept. 14, 2021.
I first encountered the work of author Rajani LaRocca last year, when I was compiling my annual Picture Book Picks blog feature. Author Hayley Barrett recommended LaRocca’s SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS as her favorite picture book of 2020, describing it as “visually gorgeous and delightfully intelligent, not to mention heartwarming.” I had to pick it up and check it out!
Like Hayley, I found LaRocca’s story to be completely exquisite. Rich, compelling and smart, while also warm and familiar. So when I learned that LaRocca had written a new picture book about DNA, I needed to know more. I noticed the MD behind her name and looked closer still to find that LaRocca attended Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, trained in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and has been working as a primary care physician since 2001.
MD, indeed!
LaRocca also is an incredibly prolific author of books for children. She has six (…SIX!) books coming out this year alone. I can’t wait to read these titles:
RED WHITE AND WHOLE (February 2021) - a novel
BRACELETS FOR BINA’S BROTHERS (April 2021) - a picture book
MUCH ADO ABOUT BASEBALL (June 2021) - a novel
WHERE THREE OCEANS MEET (August 2021) - a picture book
MY LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS (August 2021) - a picture book
And now, LaRocca is celebrating the book birthday of THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU, a September release. An an author to watch, no doubt!
THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU is a non-fiction picture book about the design that makes each living creature unique. The story begins with an array of animals. In rhyme, LaRocca asks readers why aren’t you “fuzzy” like a dog or “buzzy” like a bee? Why you aren’t you “leapy” like a frog or “creepy” like a spider? As children ponder the differences between humans and animals, it’s clear that something inside of us is making us different.
But what is it?
Enter DNA - the secret code inside us. LaRocca’s clear descriptions and catchy lyricism make a topic foreign to many children (and adults, like me!) easy to grasp and retain. And Salerno’s colorful, detailed, active art is both scientifically informative and energetically animated. A favorite line, about DNA: It looks like twisted ladders, or tiny twirling noodles. It makes us into people, instead of into poodles.
THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU concisely shares essential facts, then immediately connects the concepts to children’s curiosities and life experiences. This fantastic balance allows the story to inform and entertain, in equal parts, much like half of each biological parents’ chromosomes make a beautiful one-of-a-kind whole.
THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU contains a message, as well. That while your DNA tells your body how it will appear and assigns certain attributes and abilities, that isn’t the end of the story. You decide where to look and how to play. You choose what you’ll be. The reader leaves this story empowered to make choices that fulfill their own wishes and dreams - stepping outside the bounds of design to design their own destinies.
I was eager to learn the story behind this story, and how LaRocca made this special book sing with science and inspiration. Lucky for me, she was able to make a stop by the blog on her busy launch week! I hope you enjoy my Author Spotlight with Rajani LaRocca:
3 Questions with Rajani LaRocca
Why did you want to tell this story?
I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that the “blueprint” for every living thing lies in our cells, and how DNA is a code that must be translated in order for life to exist. In my medical career, one notion that often comes up is “nature vs. nurture”: what traits are predetermined, and how do our actions influence our health? In a book that explains genetics for kids, I wanted to explain the basics of genes, but also make sure to touch the importance of our choices in determining who we are.
How did you arrive at rhyme when drafting this manuscript?
This manuscript started off rhyming, and no matter how many times I tried to de-rhyme it, it kept coming back in rhyme. Part of the reason is that the idea for this book came to me as a refrain: “There’s a secret code inside you / a code called DNA / A code that tells your body’s cells / what they should do each day.”
It was only years later that I realized there’s another reason I had to write the book in rhyme. DNA nucleotides always pair up in the same way—adenine with thymine, and cytosine with guanine—and this is similar to how lines “pair” in rhyming manuscripts! My subconscious had decided long ago that this was how this book needed to be written. And it makes perfect sense, because to me, science is poetry.
What do you hope that children take away from the experience of reading this book?
I hope that kids come away fascinated and full of wonder about the science of DNA and genetics. And I hope they understand that their choices also very much determine who they are and who they become.
Thank you for visiting the blog, Rajani!
Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning books for young readers. She’s always been an omnivorous reader, and now she is an omnivorous writer of fiction and nonfiction, novels and picture books, prose and poetry. She finds inspiration in her family, her childhood, the natural world, math, science, and just about everywhere she looks. Learn more about Rajani and her books at www.RajaniLaRocca.com and Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She also co-hosts the STEM Women in KidLit Podcast.
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