Warlord's Kites, The

Together, the team of Virginia Walton Pilegard and illustrator Nicolas Debon has earned great praise for the highly successful Warlord's Series. The Warlord's Puzzle was selected for the Book Sense '76 list, a compilation of independent booksellers' top picks across the country, in May 2000 and is part of the California Board of Education's recommended reading list for grades K-12. The Warlord's Beads made the Book Sense '76 list in November 2001. Pilegard's lifelong desire to write and her sense of wonder led her to create stories for children in which she uses informal geometry, mathematics, and science concepts to strengthen students' visual-learning abilities. Believing a good picture book can help children process math concepts in three ways, she has completed eight mathematical adventures. In each, bright pictures give visual clues, the story begging to be read aloud offers auditory clues, and a simple craft provides tactical kinesthetic clues to enrich children's learning. For each of the Warlord's books, which are set in China, Pilegard spends hours in university and public libraries, scours bookstores and the Internet, quizzes Chinese American friends, and corresponds with authorities on various aspects of Chinese life from Seattle to Beijing in order to bring authenticity to the series. In August 2002 and again in November 2007, she traveled to China to continue her research. A proud member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the California Reading Association, and the California Mathematics Council, Pilegard has worked as an elementary-school teacher and has volunteered in a juvenile corrections facility. She and her husband, Richard, are proud parents and grandparents.