Creator Spotlight: Kate Siber and Lydia Hill

We spoke with Kate Siber and Lydia Hill, author and illustrator of 50 Adventures in the 50 States. Lydia also provided a coloring sheet just for you!

Author Kate Siber:
For many years, as a travel writer and journalist, I wrote adventure stories for magazines and newspapers, traversing the country as well as the globe. I trekked across glaciers in Alaska, climbed peaks in New Hampshire, and canyoneered through Utah’s slot canyons. 50 Adventures in the 50 States is an action-packed collection of some of my favorite trips in the U.S. as well as some of the top activities on my to-do list, like exploring lava flows in Hawaii and digging for crystals in Oklahoma. 

Our country is jam-packed with amazing vistas, lands, waters and adventures. This book is a celebration of all that this remarkable country has to offer and an invitation for kids and adults alike to embrace their inner explorer. Almost every single adventure is on publicly-owned land, from national and state parks to reserves and refuges. See one of the greatest migrations on earth in Nebraska, forage for your dinner in Oregon, and snorkel a rainbow-hued reef in Florida. I hope that readers feel the wonder, awe and enthusiasm shining through the text and illustrations—and that illustrator Lydia Hill and I inspire you to stoke your own ever-present spirit of adventure!  

Illustrator Lydia Hill:
When I was approached to work on 50 Adventures in the 50 States, I knew immediately that I wanted to center the illustrations around the style of one of my favorite collections of artwork, the WPA Nation Park posters.

In the 30s and 40s when travel became more accessible to Americans, states commissioned beautiful screen printed posters to inspire families to vacation in the national parks and other gorgeous sites across the US. They usually featured idyllic natural scenes in warm rosy colors, papery textures and iconic American animals posing on mountains, lakes and under sunsets.

Just as these posters did many years ago, I hope 50 Adventures in the 50 States inspired kids and adults alike to explore and rediscover the beauty that North America has to offer.

It was such an honor to have such fabulous written material to work from, and for being able to pay homage to such an iconic piece of vintage Americana!