Best Selling Books by Deborah Freedman

A dazzlingly beautiful book about shyness from the author of Blue Chicken, The Story of Fish and Snail, and By Mouse and Frog! Shy loves birds. He''d love to watch them fly and hear them sing, but he''s only ever read about them in books. . .until a real bird comes along. He''s dying to meet her, but there''s just one problem: Shy is, well, shy--so shy, in fact, that he''s afraid to leave the gutter of the book. Can Shy overcome his fears and venture out onto the page? This sweetly relatable picture book from the acclaimed Deborah Freedman speaks to every child who''s ever felt like hiding instead of facing the daunting world.

Asks readers to think about ways in which the natural world has provided for them, by exploring all the different elements of a house and where each came from, once.

Explore the connections found in nature in this simply stunning picture book that explores the idea of change, both big and small. This sky is the same sky that was blue, and now is spilling down in drips and drops… until rainclouds pass… Over the course of one day, a small child experiences the way the natural world changes from sun to rain and from day to night as things transform from is to was in this breathtaking book.

A mind-bendingly clever farmyard romp In this deceptively simple picture book, author-illustrator Deborah Freedman has created an irresistible character that springs to life and wreaks havoc in a farmyard with a pot of blue paint. The innocent chicken just wants to help, but things get worse and worse - and bluer and bluer - the more she tries. Playing with colors and perspective, and using minimal text, this richly layered story reveals new things to see and laugh about with each reading.

What do you see when you look at clouds? Two curious bunnies enjoy watching clouds go by. But when they look at the sky, they each see something completely different! While one bunny likes to use his imagination and sees cotton candy or whipped cream, the other bunny can only see the science behind them. Together they learn that cloud watching is much more fun when they can see it through each other''s eyes. With extensive back matter about the many kinds of clouds and the water cycle, celebrated author and illustrator Deborah Freedman once again combines the educational with the whimsical, while introducing young readers to two irresistible characters who see the power of possibility.

From the often Caldecott-buzzed Deborah Freedman, a sweet and funny story about finding your place in the world. Carl is an earthworm. He spends his days happily tunneling in the soil until a field mouse asks him a simple question that stops him short: "Why?" Carl''s quest takes him on an adventure to meet all the animals of the forest, each of whom seems to know exactly what they were put on this earth to do, unlike the curious Carl. But it''s not until the world around him has changed that Carl begins to realize everyone, no matter how small, makes a big difference just by being themselves.

Every day, Snail waits for Fish to come home with a new story. Today, Fish''s story (about pirates!) is too grand to simply be told: Fish wants to show Snail. But that would mean leaving the familiar world of their book—a scary prospect for Snail, who would rather stay safely at home and pretend to be kittens. Fish scoffs that cats are boring; Snail snaps back. Is this book too small for the two feuding friends? Could this be THE END of The Story of Fish and Snail? Deborah Freedman, author of Blue Chicken, has created a sweet and playful story about friendship that truly jumps off the page.

A spritely read-aloud about the challenges—and joys—of collaboration Fastidious Mouse has one idea about how to tell a story. Free-spirited Frog has another. What happens when Frog crashes into Mouse''s story with some wild ideas? Chaos!...followed by the discovery that working together means being willing to compromise—and that listening to one another can lead to the most beautiful stories of all. In her best book yet, the visionary creator of Blue Chicken and The Story of Fish and Snail has crafted another subtle, clever book-about-books that''s also a delightfully entertaining story featuring adorable characters who will win readers'' hearts.

After drawing a "scribble cat" on her older sister''s drawing of Princess Aurora, young Lucy follows Scribble into the picture and tries to set things right.

Did you know dinosaurs still roam the earth? A small but mighty bird declares it is a dinosaur! But no one believes that dinosaurs still exist. How can it be a dinosaur when it is so little? Dinosaurs didn’t have feathers . . . or did they? This tiny dino is here to explain to its animal friends that birds are, in fact, dinosaurs, and all creatures are connected to one big animal family. With a playful ensemble of animal characters and dynamic bursts of dialogue, celebrated author and illustrator Deborah Freedman has created a spirited and informative picture book for dinosaur lovers of all ages.

In the second part of this thesis I describe the development of optical instrumentation in support of large spectroscopic surveys. I analyze the effects of flexure in the Binospec spectrograph, a multi-object spectrograph for the 6.5-meter MMT telescope at Mt. Hopkins, AZ. I design the active flexure control system and the calibration system, two physically distinct systems that together will enable accurate and stable spectro-photometric calibration. Improvements to telescope collimation and mirror support provide additional benefit to spectroscopic surveys through superior image quality and spectrograph efficiency. I design and build a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor for the 1.5-meter Tillinghast telescope at Mount Hopkins, AZ. The wavefront sensor and accompanying software serve as valuable tools for measuring and correcting for optical aberrations.