Discovering the Little Creatures Among Us
BEA’S BOOKS
by Beatrice Cosgrove
Discovering the Little Creatures Among Us Ann Hobbie, an author and personal trainer in St. Paul, recently wrote a book called Monarch Butterflies, illustrated by Olga Baumert. A gardener who loves exercising outdoors, Hobbie was inspired to write the book when she started noticing the butterflies and discovered surprising facts about monarchs. “I was building all this knowledge,” she told me, “and I kept coming across books about monarchs that either weren’t very exciting or didn’t have a lot of information—and then there were some that were filled with errors.”
She discovered that monarchs, with their striking patterns and long migrations, could be a gateway to learning about the environment. “I want readers to want to do something to help monarchs,” she explained. “Not because I think monarchs matter more than any other insect, but because if you care about monarchs, you will probably care about all the little creatures who live among us.”
The book was originally going to take eighteen months to two years, but with delays because of COVID it ended up taking about three years to get published. The result explores all aspects of monarchs, their life cycle, migration, and how you can help them, along with lots of other facts and details. To learn more, go to www.goodreads.com/book/show/54110513-monarch-butterflies
If you are interested in getting involved in preserving habitat for monarchs, you can learn about Monarch Joint Venture, a non-profit organization based in St. Paul, where Hobbie chairs the board of directors, at https://monarchjointventure.org/
