Though Mary Casanova has written dozens of stories for children and young adults, her latest release, Northwoods Lullaby, which also marks her 40th book, began in an unexpected place.
“I wasn’t intending to write a lullaby book. I was rocking my grandson in my arms when he was born a couple years ago,” she said. “I started to sing a song that the lyrics kind of were, ‘it’s time to sing a lullaby, a lullaby for you.’”
What started as a melody turned into a picture book aimed at the youngest of book lovers. Casanova recalled taking the tune to the piano, adding chords and words, and realizing it wanted to grow into something larger. The book pairs her musical text with artwork by illustrator Jordan Sundberg, whose layered Northwoods scenes follow an adult and child on an evening walk.
The lullaby is rooted in spring and rooted in place. It is not a lullaby that could happen in any other part of the world. Casanova filled the book with fox kits, wolf pups, spring peepers, trumpeter swans, and ferns unfurling. She said she wanted to capture the season when the woods wake up.
“Every word has to be so exact,” said Casanova. “There is a whole world of nature that we are trying to convey. I really had to think of what are some of my favorite images when I think of the Northwoods and especially coming alive in the spring with new births.”
Sundberg approached the illustrations by building a parallel story that moves alongside the lyrics.
“The very best picture books, the words and pictures are saying or showing something slightly different, and so the story becomes bigger,” she said.
The illustrator drew on her own experiences walking in the woods with her children. Some pages required extra thought, including the fern scene that repeats in the chorus.
“I knew I wanted to show the hint or a piece of ferns coming alive. But I had never illustrated that before,” she admitted. “I think I went through five sketches trying to figure out what would it look like to stop in the ferns, and what would you be doing.”
She settled on a quiet moment, a cookie break in the middle of the woods, with the adult and child surrounded by unfurling fronds.
Casanova feels Sundberg’s artwork brings a softness and depth she could not have imagined.
“Her art is so soft and evocative,” she said. “She captures the Northwoods. She captures this relationship between an adult and a child hiking through the woods as the sun sets.”
The collaboration became a family project as well. The book includes a QR code linking to a recording arranged and performed by Casanova’s son‑in‑law, Minnesota musician Chris Koza. Families can read the book and then listen to the lullaby as a song, creating a layered experience that mirrors the layered artwork.
Both women said the book reflects their own childhoods and the influence of grandparents. Sundberg dedicated the book to her grandmother Mary, who turns 95 this summer.
“I have so many memories of taking walks in the woods with her,” said Sundberg. “She was so good at slowing down and being so present with me as a little kid. I think the spirit of that is in the book.”
Casanova said her grandparents shaped her early connection to northern Minnesota.
“All of that was seeded really early via my grandparents’ love of the Northwoods,” she said and added she hopes families who read the book will be inspired to spend more time outside. “Wherever readers find themselves, I hope it will encourage them to get out with their kids and explore nature. Take those walks, slow down, pay attention.”
Both said the response to the book has been encouraging. Sundberg recently spent a weekend at the Stone Arch Bridge Festival in Minneapolis, where she brought the book and prints from the illustrations.
“It felt so encouraging to see so many parents and grandparents pick it up and say, my grandson is going to love this. Or, I am heading to a baby shower next month and this is the perfect gift,” she said.
Sundberg feels the book’s appeal comes from its gentle tone and its focus on connection.
“It is like the wider story of love, really. Love of parents, love of outdoors, the love we feel when we are in the woods,” she said.
The pair has another project underway, a winter story set in northern Minnesota that will be released in about a year and a half. They said they enjoyed working together and were glad to meet in person at an earlier event.
“We celebrated by going out to lunch together afterwards,” said Casanova. “We have this new baby, a book together.”
Casanova also continues her long commitment to mentoring young writers. She recently finished a writing camp on Pelican Lake near Orr with sixteen teenage writers. The camp has run for seven years and has grown to as many as forty‑five participants in past summers.
“I do believe in mentoring and giving back. It is the most satisfying thing at this point in my career,” she said.
Sundberg will visit Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais on July 11 from 11 AM – 1 PM for a book signing and reading, and plans to have gifts for kids who come to check out the book.
Casanova said she wishes she could attend this year’s event.
“I am a huge fan of Drury Lane Books. I am so glad that they are going to showcase Northwoods Lullaby. I hope to return sometime in the future,” she said.
Casanova’s author site is marycasanova.com. Sundberg’s illustration work can be found at tincupdesignco.com. For more information on Casanova’s writing camp, visit writingcamp.org.
