Goodnight, Los Alamos author Whitney Spivey has collaborated with local photographer Leslie Bucklin on A Los Alamos Alphabet, available at Mesa Public Library on October 21. Courtesy photo
An interior page of A Los Alamos Alphabet, which will be available on Oct. 21 at Mesa Public Library. Courtesy photo
Five years after releasing her best-selling children’s book Goodnight, Los Alamos, local author Whitney Spivey has written and published a second children’s book, A Los Alamos Alphabet. The hardcover, 31-page book was designed by Los Alamos native Leslie Bucklin.
The Youth Services department at Mesa Public Library is hosting a book launch on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 3 p.m. in the library’s downstairs rotunda. Everyone is welcome at this reading and signing, especially kids! A Los Alamos Alphabet and Goodnight, Los Alamos will be for sale for $20 each (cash, check, or Venmo preferred; no credit cards).
“A Los Alamos Alphabet is not your average ABC book,” Spivey says. “I wanted to create something a little more fun and sophisticated that resonates with kids of all ages—and adults.”
Take for example, the “C” verse:
Canyons, coyotes, cholla, chamisa
Hiking along Cañada Bonita
Camping at Camp May, concerts at the pond
The letter C has a lot going on
Bucklin brought each page to life using her own photographs, which she’s taken during her many years as a professional photographer.
“Photography, for me, has always been about celebrating the places I have seen and experienced and bringing them back to share with others,” Bucklin says. “Los Alamos is my home and a place I am very passionate about, so having the opportunity to share photos of the area in such a fun way is really special.”
To schedule a book reading or signing at your organization, please contact Spivey at 573-864-4126 or goodnightlosalamos@gmail.com.
In addition to being for sale at Mesa Public Library on Oct. 21, books will also be available, starting Oct. 22, at various stores around Los Alamos. If you live outside of Los Alamos and would like a book, email goodnightlosalamos@gmail.com.
Follow A Los Alamos Alphabet and Goodnight, Los Alamos on Instagram @goodnightlosalamos.
See more of Leslie Bucklin’s photography at quakingaspenfineart.com or on Instagram @lbucklinphoto and @goforthadventures.
Author Whitney Spivey. Photo Courtesy LANL/Samantha D’Anna
Designer and photographer Leslie Bucklin/Photo Courtesy Leslie Bucklin