Endangered Mexican Spotted Owl takes children on a magical flight in Utah author’s book

Written by Stephanie DeGraw
July 13, 2024

ST. GEORGE — An endangered Mexican Spotted Owl is introducing children to dark skies and national parks.

Utah author Melissa Marsted visits school children across the state to share her books including her recent “Ole’s Dark Sky Journey” that features an endangered Mexican spotted owl, Park City, Utah date not specified | Photo courtesy of Melissa Marsted, St. George News

Utah author Melissa Marsted’s recent book, “Olé’s Dark Sky Journey,” features the owl, which flies from park to park in the Beehive state.

“In ‘Olé’s Dark Sky Journey,’ like most of my books, there’s educational value,” Marsted told St. George News. “This book contains three predominant educational elements, including the Mexican spotted owl, a threatened species.

“I like to focus on animals that are endangered. The next element is the phases of the moon. So this Mexican spotted owl travels and teaches about the different phases. And while traveling through these dark sky parks, he introduces the kids and families to some of the most important constellations.”

Over the years, the author has taken her books on the road to share with schoolchildren. Marsted often visits schools off the beaten path, like Hanksville Elementary School in Wayne County.

During one trip, she visited Gooseneck State Park near Mexican Hat in the Four Corners area. The trip inspired her to write about the dark skies of Utah and create the character of Olé.

.“What’s interesting about Gooseneck is they’re no trees, so you don’t have these rustling, and there aren’t a lot of birds because there’s nowhere to land. It was not only one of the darkest places I’ve ever been. It’s one of the quietest,” Marsted said.

The book “Olé’s Dark Sky Journey” is the 10th in the Wildlife Adventures for Young Readers series that focuses on Utah. Marsted said there are more International Dark Sky Parks in Utah than anywhere in the world. There are over 195 such parks worldwide and Utah is home to 24. A dark sky designation means there is almost no light pollution in those areas.

Marsted hopes families will read her books together. Olé flies from one park to the next and introduces readers to the unusual geological features and constellations of the national parks. The owl explores Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park and Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.

When the author’s two sons were younger, she enjoyed reading out loud to them. Marsted has written children’s books for over 20 years.

“My style hasn’t really changed. I used to love to read my boys when they were growing up, and my book collection was insane,” she said.

Utah author Melissa Marsted, location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Melissa Marsted, St. George News

Marsted recalled that 20 years ago, when her youngest son turned 8, he received a hot-air balloon-building Lego set. So she Googled the origins of the hot-air balloon. She found that the first hot-air balloon flight was over the gardens of the Palace of Versailles in Paris in the 1700s.

She said she was inspired to write a story about it for her son. She sent the manuscript to an old friend to inquire about publishing it. Marstead said getting published turned out to be more challenging than she expected.

Yet, years later, in 2023, Marsted finished the 10th book in her series about Utah’s dark sky parks. Ole won a Center for the Book prize as part of the Library of Congress. The book is illustrated by Victoria Speck and highlights night sky constellations.

“I have always had an interest in making the books educational because my feeling was the parents are gonna sit down and read with our kids. I was hoping they would learn something and be interested, Marsted said. “I actually call my books storybooks versus picture books because I feel like they’re between picture books and easy readers.”

The beginning of Marsted’s author journey was tough, yet out of the ashes, she created a publishing company called Lucky Penny Press after surviving the Santa Barbara Tea Fire in November 2008. Marsted said she was then working on self-publishing her first children’s book, Pablito and the Speckled Bear. Her family’s home of 16 years was completely destroyed by the fire. Somehow, she saved a CD with six illustrations for Pablito. She added that saving the CD was a miracle since the artist who created the illustrations for the book, Ben Ciccati, also lost everything in the Tea Fire, including the original paintings for Pablito.

When the iPad came out in March 2010, Marsted started self-publishing her books. She said it didn’t catch on until Create Space merged with Amazon Kindle Direct.  She started the original Lucky Penny Press App, then an eBook publishing company, Lucky Penny Press, that has become Lucky Penny Publications, LLC.

The author said her first book in the Wildlife Adventure for Young Readers series, published in 2016, was “Buzzy and the Red Rock Canyons.” Buzzy the Bee flies across Utah, introducing readers to the state’s Bryce, Zion Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks. Buzzy also introduces animals and endangered species that live in the parks. The book also showcases how arches, hoodoos and spires formed many years ago in the parks.

“Olé’s Dark Sky Journey” is available at visitors’ centers at Zion Mountain Ranch near Zion National Park, Edges of the Cedars and Fremont Indian State Park. Books are also available on Amazon and Luckypennypublications.com.

Marsted has lived in Park City since 2013 with her two cats and a Jack Russel dog, who has since passed. Her other dog, a Vizsla called Clover, travels with her. Clover road-tripped with Marsted from Park City to New England in November 2021 when she was five months old. The pair plans to hit up as many state and national parks as possible. Marsted and her pup have been to all of Utah’s 29 counties and almost all of its state parks. They have traveled throughout the east and west coasts of America and Canada. She is also a Harvard graduate with an advanced degree in Organizational Management.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie DeGraw is an award-winning journalist. For 25 years, she engaged in journalism, broadcasting and public relations. DeGraw worked for the Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press and The City Journals. She was a reporter for a CBS television station in Twin Falls, Idaho. She graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Broadcasting.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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