Patricia Valdez

Patricia Valdez is the author of Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles, illustrated by Felicita Sala.  She was inspired to write this book when she visited the Komodo dragon at the National Zoo with her family. After doing research on Komodo dragons, Valdez discovered that Joan Beauchamp Procter was the first person to describe them in the 1920s. Procter designed the reptile house at the London Zoo, which still exists today. She also pioneered new techniques in the medical care of reptiles.
 
Valdez works at the National Institutes of Health. Her current writing projects include a picture book about the discovery of ripples in space-time, and a middle grade story.
 
Growing up in Texas, Valdez loved reading and making tiny books. Her favorite childhood stories were Lyle, Lyle Crocodile by Bernard Waber, Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and all of Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books.
 
When Valdez moved across the country to the Washington, DC area when her children were still in preschool, she was “so ecstatic to come across this gem of a library in our new neighborhood.” Adds Valdez, “The Noyes Library for Young Children offers children a place of their own, where they can explore and be transported to other worlds through books. The picture book collection is amazing and most certainly inspired me to start writing my own stories.”
 
Read more about Ms. Valdez HERE and check out her book Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor at the Noyes Library for Young Children and other Montgomery County Public Libraries.

By Beth Meyer for the September/October 2019 Make MORE Noyes Community Update.

---