On Oct. 13, local author Sheryl Peterson visited Indus School and spoke with elementary and junior high students about writing and reading nonfiction books.

Peterson, a former Title 1 teacher in International Falls, said that she started writing curriculum materials, which were published in the teacher resource publication, “Good Apple.” She then expanded to writing books on a variety of other topics.

Peterson has written books about several states. She has also written nonfiction books about the Seattle Mariners, Florida Marlins, Egyptian Pyramids, sugar, Empire State Building, dinosaurs and Macchu Picchu.

Peterson has also done fiction writing and is currently working on a novel, but most of her published works are nonfiction, she said.

In her book about Minnesota, highlights include Smokey Bear, the Mall of America, the loon, Paul Bunyan, gray wolves, Charles Lindbergh, the Minnesota Wild, Duluth, Bob Dylan, the Mayo Clinic.

First grader Jade McGuire said of the presentation, “It was fun. I learned about books.”

Anna Noyes, a second grader, agreed. “It was good. I learned about California,” she said.

Funds for the workshops were provided by Reading First.