“Metcalf’s tale illustrates difficulties of breaking through prejudiced systems…a story that both shows what was and hints at what might have been.” — Publishers Weekly

Lindsay H. Metcalf is a journalist and award-winning author of nonfiction books for young people, including Beatrix Potter, Scientist, a Mighty Girl Best Book of 2020 and Young People’s Literature Award winner from the Friends of American Writers Chicago; Farmers Unite! Planting a Protest for Fair Prices, a Kansas Notable Book, Friends of American Writers honoree, NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book, and Junior Library Guild selection; and No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History, a Kirkus and Chicago Public Library Best Book, Notable Social Studies Trade Book, and NCTE Notable Poetry Book. Her latest books, No World Too Big: Young People Fighting Global Climate Change, is a picture-book poetry anthology from the team behind No Voice Too Small (Charlesbridge, spring 2023) and Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm, illustrated by Xin Li (Astra Young Readers, spring 2024). Forthcoming titles include Tomatoes on Trial: The Fruit Vs. Vegetable Supreme Court Showdown, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham (Calkins Creek, fall 2025), No Brain the Same (2026), and Eyes to the Sky (2026). Lindsay lives with her husband, two sons, and a menagerie of pets a few miles from the Kansas farm where she grew up.

It was on the farm that Lindsay developed a curiosity about nature. She loved to follow her golden retriever to the creek and hunt for beaver-gnawed tree stumps and deer tracks. To wonder at the ripples from skipping pebbles on the water. She also loved to ride the combine with her dad—and to read.

After high school and college, she flew the coop for a career as a newspaper reporter and editor in the city. She rekindled her love of children’s books when she realized her two rambunctious little boys would sit still for a good story. That gave her a new mission: to tell stories that empower children and encourage them to care for the world and all its creatures.

Lindsay's Featured Titles

Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm

Astra Young Readers |
Children’s

Discover how both outdoor and indoor farms sustainably grow the food we eat throughout the year in this vibrant, rhyming picture book.

Outdoor farm,
tractors toil.
Indoor farm,
zero soil.

With energetic, enchanting verse and sunshiny, colorful illustrations, discover how the food you eat is grown both outside—and inside! Join two children as they explore the inner workings of an outdoor farm and an indoor farm. You’ll see how a variety of amazing machinery like tractors and drones along with innovative farming techniques yield the wonderful food we all love to enjoy.

No World Too Big: Young People Fighting Global Climate Change

Charlesbridge |
Children’s

Fans of No Voice Too Small will be inspired by young climate activists who made an impact around climate change in their communities, countries, and beyond.

Climate change impacts everyone, but the future belongs to young people. No World Too Big celebrates twelve young activists and three activist groups on front lines of the climate crisis who have planted trees in Uganda, protected water in Canada, reduced school-bus climate footprint in Indonesia, invented alternate power sources in Ohio, and more. Fourteen poems by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, David Bowles, Rajani LaRocca, Renée LaTulippe, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, and others honor activists from all over the world and the United States. Additional text goes into detail about each activist’s life and how readers can get involved.

Farmers Unite!: Planting a Protest for Fair Prices

Calkins Creek |
Children’s

In the late 1970s, grain prices had tanked, farm auction notices filled newspapers, and people had forgotten that food didn’t grow in grocery stores. So, on February 5, 1979, thousands of tractors from all parts of the US flooded Washington, DC, in protest.

Author Lindsay H. Metcalf, a journalist who grew up on a family farm, shares this rarely told story of grassroots perseverance and economic justice. In 1979, US farmers traveled to Washington, DC to protest unfair prices for their products. Farmers wanted fair prices for their products and demanded action from Congress. After police corralled the tractors on the National Mall, the farmers and their tractors stayed through a snowstorm and dug out the city. Americans were now convinced they needed farmers, but the law took longer. Boldly told and highlighted with stunning archival images, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of the American farmer that still resonates today.

No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History

Charlesbridge |
Children’s

Fans of We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices will love meeting fourteen young activists who have stepped up to make change in their community and the United States.

Mari Copeny demanded clean water in Flint. Jazz Jennings insisted, as a transgirl, on playing soccer with the girls’ team. From Viridiana Sanchez Santos’s quinceañera demonstration against anti-immigrant policy to Zach Wahls’s moving declaration that his two moms and he were a family like any other, No Voice Too Small celebrates the young people who know how to be the change they seek. Fourteen poems honor these young activists. Featuring poems by Lesléa Newman, Traci Sorell, and Nikki Grimes. Additional text goes into detail about each youth activist’s life and how readers can get involved.

Beatrix Potter, Scientist (She Made History)

Albert Whitman & Company |
Children’s

Beatrix Potter was a writer, an artist, and a scientist too, and she strove to find a place in the world for her talents.

Everyone knows Beatrix Potter as the creator of the Peter Rabbit stories. But before that, she was a girl of science. As a child, Beatrix collected nature specimens; as a young adult, she was an amateur mycologist presenting her research on mushrooms and other fungi to England’s foremost experts. Like many women of her time, she remained unacknowledged by the scientific community, but her keen eye for observation led her to an acclaimed career as an artist and storyteller. A beloved author is cast in a new light in this inspiring picture book story.

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What a Farm Looks Like

In this ag-literacy storytime, Lindsay will lead a virtual tour of her family’s Kansas farm, play “Guess the Grain,” and learn the ingredient that modern outdoor farms and indoor farms have in common: innovation. (30 minutes) (Pre-K to Grade 2)

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How to Write a Story

What makes a great story? Lindsay will share the must-have elements as well as where she gets her ideas. Then the group will brainstorm the bones of a new story together. Children will walk away energized to tell their own unique stories. (30-45 minutes) (Grades K-2)

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How a Book is Made

From idea to published book, Lindsay will delve into real talk about messy first drafts and revision as well as what happens to a book after it leaves an author’s hands. This session calls for volunteers! (45 minutes) (Grades 3-6)

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Your Voice Matters

We are all born with a superpower: a voice! Students will leave this session understanding that activism takes many forms. By tapping into our own passions and talents, we can all make a difference in our communities and the world. (45 minutes) (Grades 3-8)

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Farmers Unite

Lindsay shares the story of the American Agriculture Movement farmers who drove their tractors to Washington, DC, in 1979 to protest unfair crop prices. While reporters spotlighted the farmers for jamming traffic, this talk will zoom in on what Lindsay found while digging into the research: the story the farmers wanted to tell. (45 minutes) (Grade 3 to Adult)

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Write Like a Journalist

Drawing from her years of experience as a newspaper reporter, editor, and columnist, Lindsay shares tips and tricks for approaching writing for children through a journalist’s lens, including how to track down sources; how to prep for and conduct interviews; and how to earn readers’ trust in a critical time for information literacy. This talk focuses on nonfiction, but there will be many takeaways for fiction writers who strive for truth and authenticity. (1 hour) (Adults)

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Fact or Fake? Media Literacy Live

Research, fact-checking, and detecting bias in sources get a hands-on twist. This small-group workshop stages a mock press conference where students will be tasked with filtering spin to write a true and balanced story. (Grades 5-8)

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Poetry and Activism

Through a series of exercises, students in this small-group workshop will explore their passions and talents to come up with a personalized formula for raising their voices and making a difference in the world. Then they’ll use what they’ve learned about themselves to write a biographical poem. (Grades 5-8)

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No World Too Big

Climate change is a heavy topic, but the best way through anxiety is by taking action—together. In this interactive session, students will hear true stories of international young activists on the front lines of climate change who are planting trees, protecting water, composting, and more. This session closes with a whole-group poetry writing exercise that will leave students feeling capable and energized as Earth protectors. (Grades K-5)

Resources for Educators Link

Lindsay’s Critique Services Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Junior Library Guild Selection
Honors for No Voice Too Small:
2021 Notable Social Studies Trade Book, National Council for the Social Studies
2021 Social Justice Literature Award, Nonfiction Category, International Literacy Association
2021 Notable Poetry Book, NCTE
100 Best Picture Books of 2020, Kirkus
A 2021 Best Book, Bank Street College of Education
2020 Nerdy Book Award, Poetry and Verse Novels, Nerdy Book Club
Finalist, Favorite True Story, 2021 Kids Book Choice Awards
2023 Charlotte Award nominee, New York State Reading Association
Best Picture Books of 2020 About Small People in a Big World, Kirkus
Best Informational Books for Younger Readers of 2020, Chicago Public Library
Reading the West Picture Book Award longlist, MPIBA
50 Best Multicultural Picture Books of 2020, Colours of Us
2023 Beehive Book Award Poetry nominee, Children’s Literature Association of Utah
Picture This 2022 Recommendation List, Wisconsin State Reading Association
2021 Ohioana Award Finalist, Juvenile Literature
2020 Cybils Awards Finalist, Elementary Nonfiction
Reading Revolutionaries book box selection

Honors for Farmers Unite!:
2021 Notable Social Studies Trade Book, National Council for the Social Studies/Children’s Book Council
2021 Young People’s Literature Award, Friends of American Writers Chicago
2021 Kansas Notable Book
Junior Library Guild selection
A Bank Street College of Education 2021 Best Book ★ starred for Outstanding Merit

Honors for Beatrix Potter, Scientist:
2021 Young People’s Literature Award, Friends of American Writers Chicago
A Mighty Girl 2020 Book of the Year

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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