Melissa Marsted has spent a decade sending her wildlife picture books to schools, libraries, and national park visitor centers across the country. Now the Park City publisher has a national platform to match.

Lucky Penny Press, Marsted's solo publishing operation, has been invited to join the Children's Book Council, the nonprofit trade association that counts Scholastic, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster among its members. The CBC requires at least five children's trade books in print for membership; Marsted's "Wildlife Adventures for Young Readers" series has 13. Her 10th title, "Ole's Dark Sky Journey," was selected as Utah's children's entry in the Library of Congress Center for the Book's 2023 Great Reads from Great Places program.

Marsted submitted a questionnaire about Lucky Penny's background and priorities the week of Monday, July 21, and the press was listed on the CBC's publishers page by July 24.

What the membership opens

CBC membership gives Marsted access to the council's Kids Favorites program, a national student-voting competition that sends 300 to 500 new titles to schools and libraries in all 50 states each year. Students read the books from August through February and vote for their favorites. More than 70 coordinators run the displays, and the resulting annual lists are widely used by educators and librarians nationwide.

Marsted said she also plans to enter a CBC new-books competition with the digital edition of her 13th title, "Flora's Winged Adventure," which follows a monarch butterfly named Flora on her migration from Canada to Mexico. Marsted said the story traces the eastern migration corridor along the Appalachian Trail, through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The physical book has not yet been published.

A wildlife technician co-writes the new book

Alexandra Lehner, a U.S. Forest Service wildlife technician who illustrated Marsted's 2025 book "Rascal's Year of Adventures," co-wrote and illustrated "Flora's Winged Adventure." Marsted said Lehner's expertise on butterflies shaped the story's science.

A Los Angeles-based narrator who has voiced five of Marsted's earlier titles is recording the audiobook for "Flora."

From iPad app to national recognition

Marsted launched Lucky Penny as an iPad app in 2010, offering only eBooks and audiobooks. She shifted to physical books in 2015 and published "Buzzy and the Red Rock Canyons" in 2016, inspired by the National Park Service's centennial.

Marsted moved to Park City after losing her home in the 2008 Santa Barbara wildfire. Her great-grandfather invented the Erector Set, and her grandmother ran a children's toy store.

Still hitting the road

Marsted has visited all 29 Utah counties for author readings. The smallest school she read to was in Hanksville, where the entire student body fit in one classroom. She said she hopes to schedule library readings in Bicknell and Roosevelt the week of July 28.

Lucky Penny Press books are available at luckypennypublications.com, Amazon, local libraries, bookstores, nature centers, and national park visitor centers.