Myra Scott Nye publishes new children’s book

A crow by nature is inquisitive. They’re intelligent and have an incredible memory, even going so far as to recalling faces and learning people’s behavioral patterns. Crows are fun, and playful, and communicative with one another. They find interest in new objects and people, and even the most subtle changes in their environment. If there’s a mystery to be investigated on their turf, you best believe that a crow will be on the case.

Much like local author, Myra Scott Nye. Nye presented her book, Who Could It Be, to the Frances L. Simek Memorial Library in Medford on Friday, August 8. Who Could It Be is seen through the eyes of a curious child who notices mysterious tracks leading into the wilderness after a fresh snowfall. Who made those tracks? A vole, or a fox, or perhaps a deer?

The book was written with early readers in mind and prompts kids to ask questions on their own. Nye, a former kindergarten teacher, has been writing for her students since she began teaching, though she never had her stories published until now. She simply wrote for the love of writing and guiding small children.

“I’m going to teach the way I want to be taught,” Nye stated of her time in the classroom with young students.

Nye has a passion for botany and zoology, keeping journals full of haikus and observations of the inhabitants on her 15 acres. “The trail in the backyard after the first snow is the nicest,” she said. “I love tracking crows out by my mailbox.”

She used to take her students outside of the classroom to a nature trail where they would smother pinecones in peanut butter and lie in wait, watching to see the visitors they would attract. Nye encouraged her students to ask questions and be curious about the natural world around them. It was a lesson that stuck with many. She remembers some former students who went off to college and were given an assignment about a teacher who influenced them the most. She was humbled when they chose her.

“I tried to connect with everybody, but I didn’t know I would connect like that,” Nye said. “It was unbelievable.”

The journey from studying tracks in her yard to publishing wasn’t an easy one. Nye illustrated the book herself. A freelance artist, she started her drawings in pencil before transitioning to colored pencil. But when her brother fell ill just after the pandemic, the project came to a standstill. “I had this book in my head for a long time, but I had upsets,” she said.

She was further set back when her brother eventually passed away, but the story, and the dream, never left her entirely. When she was ready, Nye returned to Who Could It Be and in January of this year she set out to learn how to publish her own work. But it turned out that publishing would be a challenge all on its own.

In her research she learned that an easier path might be to publish directly through Amazon, so she took flight. What was promised to be a straightforward experience quickly turned when Nye received a rough draft and noticed that her detailed illustrations had been altered and the words she had so painstakingly put together became choppy, with poor grammar and punctuation. This would not do for the former teacher.

For a brief moment, she thought about setting the project aside yet again. “I had it,” she said. “It’s spring, I have to get out in the garden, I have a life to live.” Fortunately, an Amazon representative by the name of Daniel swooped in and smoothed over any ruffled feathers, and on June 19, 2025, Nye’s book was officially published only one day after its final submission.

“I never thought it would happen,” she said. Nye hopes that children will read her book and unplug from the television and their electronic devices, and use their imagination to explore the world around them. Her goal is for kids to act out the book in their own homes or yards. “You can create your own stories by watching nature, I hope that they will get imaginative ideas and curiosity.”

And even after the book’s publication, Nye is still thinking of the little ones. She intends for the proceeds of the book’s sale to go to children in Langlade County who need a little extra support. “I want the royalties to go to as many of these poor children as it can,” she said. She worries about them having warm clothes in winter, and food in their bellies when school isn’t in session.

In addition to drawing and writing, Nye is an artist with other mediums as well, including scratchboard art. Scratchboard begins with a board coated in white clay, then black ink. She uses special tools to scratch the black surface away, unveiling the white layer underneath and bringing to life sharp, high-contrast images. She enjoys taking photographs as well, keeping those in her journals with her other observations and collections.

She’s also written another book that she hasn’t published, a book about all the things her students told her when they came to school. After Nye retired, she created illustrations and paired them with the stories. She remembers fondly a young boy who was walking on the tables in class. Nye looked down and saw that his shoes were labeled “L” for left and “R” for right, except the boy had still managed to put them on the wrong feet.

Who Could It Be by Myra Scott Nye can be purchased on Amazon. It’s 31 pages long, the recommended number of pages for a young child. It’s probably best that the inquisitive adventurer was limited to just 31 pages.

“I followed a bear to its den, I could have had a lot more pages!”