Sometimes, outdoor creatures can be intimidating. Don’t bee afraid—bee curious like Eli in Eli and the Bug Catcher written by Danielle Kaplan.
The idea hatched during the COVID-19 pandemic when Danielle and her family were sheltering in place. They spent alot of time outside.
“My youngest son really took to capturing lightning bugs in the bug catcher,” says Danielle. “It just brought him so much joy, but it also came with many questions.” Those questions became inspiration for her books.
The storylines are about a curious boy who learns about bugs through various members of his community. In this first book, Eli learns all about bees from his mother.
She offers this message, "Let's take a look at this bug. Let's learn about this bug. Let's talk about it. So the message is, it's good to learn" - and be curious.
“Bugs can be scary right? I know I get scared when I see spiders, for example,” Danielle explains. “How do we normalize bugs? They're very important in our ecosystem.”
For anyone wanting to write, Danielle says, "It sounds cliché, but having a supportive network behind you...it really helps."
Danielle found an illustrator, Lindley Wiesner, who was involved in the process. “She helped me in so many ways; just a sense of stability, partnership—there's some accountability there too.”
Danielle and her family loves living in Media, "We saw an article 13 years ago about Media, so we just drove out here, and had lunch in town. And we fell in love with it. We've lived here ever since."