More About the Author
Conrad J. Storad Storad is the author of more than 30 science and nature books for children and young adults. Rattlesnake Rules is his brand new picture book. He hopes the book will help to demystify an amazing but often maligned creature. Get a sneak preview at www.RattlesnakeRules.com In November 2010, the Arizona Author's Association gave the book an award for Best Children's Literature. In May 2010, the book won a Glyph Award for Best Children's Illustration from the Arizona Book Publisher's Association. It was also an Honor Book in the Children's Fiction category. In 2009, Storad's book Gila Monsters won the Glyph Award as Arizona's Best Children's Non-Fiction Book. In 2008, his Meerkats won the coveted ABPA Best Book Award. In 2005, as part of her program to promote reading, then Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano selected Storad's Don't Call Me Pig! (A Javelina Story). More than 93,000 Arizona first graders received a special edition copy. In 2001, the Arizona Library Association honored Storad with the Judy Goddard Award as "Arizona Children's Author of the Year."
Storad's other picture books include Desert Night Shift (A Pack Rat Story), Life in the Slow Lane (A Desert Tortoise Tale), Lizards for Lunch (A Roadrunner's Tale), and Don't Ever Cross That Road! (An Armadillo Story). The books have won many awards. Other Storad books are part of special series published by Lerner Publications. All are written for readers in grades 2 to 4. Titles include: Saguaro Cactus, Scorpions, Tarantulas, Hippos, Earth's Crust, and The Circulatory System. New titles include Mars, Fossil Fuels, Gila Monsters, Javelinas, Galapagos Tortoises, and Piranhas. In 2009, to celebrate its 12th year in print, Donna Atwood Design published a newly revised edition of Sonoran Desert A to Z, Storad's popular coloring/learning book. Other books in the series include Little Lords of the Desert (Arachnids and Insects), Flying Colors (Beautiful Birds of the Southwest), and Ancient Harvest (Plants used by Native People of the Southwest).
In February 2010, Storad retired as director of the Office of Research Publications at Arizona State University. For more than 24 years he wrote and edited stories about science, scholarship, and creative activity taking place at the nation's largest public university. He was the founding editor of the nationally award winning ASU Research Magazine. He also was founding editor of Chain Reaction, an award-winning magazine for young readers that highlights stories about science, learning, and creative activity taking place at ASU. Check it out at http://chainreactionkids.org Storad will now devote his full time and energy to writing interesting non-fiction books for young readers. He also does author presentations for schools and conducts nonfiction writing workshops for students and teachers across the country. Learn more about his school presentations at www.conradstorad.com
Prior to working at ASU, Storad worked as a reporter, editor, and general manager for The Barberton Herald newspaper in northeast Ohio. He was a science/medical writer for the U.S. National Cancer Institute, a freelance magazine writer, and a science/feature writer at Kent State University. He earned a degree in mass media communication from the University of Akron in 1979, and a master's degree in mass communication/science journalism from ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication in 1983. He was a Year 2000 inductee to the Cronkite School's Journalism Hall of Fame. Storad is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, Arizona Book Publisher's Association, and the University Research Magazine Association.
