Carnation native publishes children’s book about snakes

Published 1:30 pm Friday, September 5, 2025

A Seattle scientific journalist has published “Colorsss,” a rhyming children’s book to help readers learn their colors and explore types of snakes.

Deborah Hutchinson, who grew up in Carnation, has a PhD in ecological sciences and has studied snakes for many years. Her first children’s book, “Colorsss,” was published Sept. 2 by Peanut Butter Publishing.

“Colorsss” is made up of photos Hutchinson took while researching snakes in Japan and the United States. The book starts out as a rhyming story showing snakes of all different colors. The following pages include facts about snakes, including how snakes defend themselves from predators by using colors, patterns, venoms and poisons.

Growing up in the Snoqualmie Valley, Hutchinson has been curious about nature from a young age.

“We had lots of opportunities to run around and explore in nature,” she said of her rural childhood home near the woods. “There were lots of critters that I encountered, and I would say that had a pretty big impact on my fascination for these kinds of animals.”

Hutchinson’s lifelong fascination has included snakes, but she knows not all children have had that same experience. One of the primary goals of “Colorsss” is to instill in children a sense of wonder about nature, she said.

“You have to care about things in order to want to conserve them or preserve them as an adult,” she said. “I think that’s something that’s really important to get through to children, is just how magical our world actually is and that it’s worth taking care of.”

Hutchinson’s next goal is to reduce fear of snakes. The back of the book includes a note to parents and caregivers about the importance of teaching children to view nature with curiosity rather than fear.

“In my experience, kids, especially when they’re that young, are not really afraid of snakes, but when they see their parents have a really negative reaction to them, then the kids start to feel afraid,” she said. “That end goal is easier to accomplish if you teach the parents first, and then they model that behavior for the kids.”

“Colorsss” is sold as a hardcover book and just so happens to be fully compostable, printed on FSC-certified paper and made with vegetable-based inks and biodegradable lamination.

Conservation was Hutchinson’s “first love” and has remained important to her throughout her work, she said, driving her to incorporate sustainability practices as well.

“There are various things you can do to protect individual species, but at the end of the day, the most important thing you can do is to protect their habitat,” she said. “That ties right into sustainability, because if we come up with ways to sustainably harvest and use resources, then that preserves more of the land and more of the space for the animals that need it.”

Check it out: “Colorsss” is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Pathway Book Service. Keep an eye on Hutchinson’s Instagram page @authordeborahhutchinson for information about upcoming book events.