Metro author writes about the Big Bog

“The bog was such an amazing place, different from anywhere I had ever been — vast and quiet and wild,” she said. “I had no idea that I would fall in love with it, but I did.”

Root has lived in Minneapolis since 1975 and was dimly aware that Minnesota had a large area of bog.

After extensive research, Root started piecing together parts for her book, which, over time, took on many different forms. It took her a year to find the direction of the book.

“I finally realized I was waiting for the bog to belch,” she said. “It is built on suspense and humor.”

According to Root, the idea for the title came from the fact that bogs really do belch. Scientists are studying the process, but no one, so far, has actually ever heard it.

“I think that’s fascinating,” she explained.

Root has had 46 books published, with two more in the works, and she said she doesn’t write books to send messages. Instead, each book, like the Big Belching Bog, is intended for readers to take what they want from them.

“For this book, I want readers to have admiration and respect for this amazing place and the plants and animals that survive there,” she said, “and I hope they learn a little something about the bog.”

And learn they will. The book has many unfamiliar bog-terms all listed in a detailed glossary at the end of the book.

“I’m so pleased to see this book out in the world, and even more pleased that I got a chance to know the bog at least a little bit,” she said.

Aside from the uniqueness of the book’s wording, the illustrations by Betsy Bowen who lives in Grand Marais also stand out.

“The publisher asked Betsy if she would illustrate the book, and I was delighted when I heard that she had accepted,” Root said. “I’ve hoped that some day I would write a book that she would illustrate. Her art is wonderful and magnificent.”

Bowen said she used a new style of illustration and was pleased with the final product.

“This way of making the art was new enough for me that I was surprised by the outcome as I went along,” she explained. “Overall the look is bolder and more colorful than I imagined at the beginning.”

According to Bowen, she decided to paint with oil paint over a woodcut printed base. She thought the softness of the mossy environment would emerge, along with the possibility for bright colors.

Big Belching Bog is available through children’s books stores, from the University of Minnesota Press and on line through various booksellers.

About the author

From the time she was in fifth grade, Phyllis Root knew she wanted to be a writer. It wasn’t until she was in college that she stumbled across a shelf of children’s books that she decided what genre she wanted to write.

“I knew I wanted to be part of making those beautiful books, but I did not start writing books for children until I was 30 years old. I’ve been writing them ever since,” she said.

According to the Indiana native, once she started writing, she gave herself a year of practice: she wrote for five hours a day, five days a week, trying to learn what she could about the craft and heart of writing. (In the afternoons she worked as a waitress to pay bills.)

Every month, she sent a story to her college roommate who was then a banker in Chicago, who provided her with a deadline for a finished piece of work.

After a year of writing, she began submitting stories to magazines for children and made her first sale to Cricket magazine. She also sent stories off to editors and began her long string of rejections.

Root finally had a book accepted by one editor, then gradually, she had another book published. Finally, she started working with an amazing editor from Candlewick Press, who helped her with many books. Now, she has 46 published books with two more in the works. All her books have been for children.

“I love the simplicity and the difficulty of writing for such a discerning audience,” she said.

Root has a middle grade novel, Lilly and the Pirates, coming out this fall.