Nature Heroes Series by Jess French
Jess French has written a lovely blog for us about her new series, Nature Heroes. The first two are available now and the series focuses on a group of friends who are keen to protect nature and wildlife.
The latest two books in the series have a wider scope, but each of the characters still has a specific focus. Ava loves all animals, so through her adventure we get to meet all kinds of creatures, from insects to blue whales. The book started off as ‘Ava Loves Animals’, but as often happens when creating characters, Ava soon took on a life of her own and made it clear that she wanted not only to meet animals, but to rescue them too.
Pedro’s fascination is the planet and how to protect it. I started writing books on this topic many years again and sometimes it can seem like little has changed in that period. But when I take a bit longer to reflect, I realise that lots of things have changed. Most noticeably, children know so much more about their impact on the environment and are very aware of the steps they can take to protect it. In fact, I think all the information can become a little overwhelming and scary sometimes. As such, I wanted this book to be a hopeful and empowering guide to caring for the planet, with helpful and simple everyday tips that can make a difference, rather than an anxiety-inducing lecture about everything bad that humans have done.
It has been wonderful to meet Billy, Bella, Ava and Pedro and to have a chance to share their fascinations with readers. Though I have written many non-fiction books about animals, it was a brilliant challenge to inject all of that complex factual information into a highly illustrated, story format. I was so lucky to work with the wonderfully talented Duncan Beedie, who brought the children and animals so vibrantly to life and made their stories feel fun and engaging.
Nature Heroes are written by Jess French, Illustrated by Duncan Beedie and published by Quarto Kids. There are currently 4 books in the series.
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.