A lot has happened in the last months, and to put it briefly, I’ve published a children’s book!  The publicity campaign for Hannah’s Call To Care will go live on Monday, July 7, 2025.  The press release will be sent to media correspondents worldwide.

I am pleased that the initial feedback for the book has been positive.  The Kids-heaven Instagram group rated it as one of the top 15 children’s books for June, Books Fest Brew has rated it as number one in trends across diverse genres in literature, and it has been featured in the children’s literary magazine Kidlio Magazine  I am honored and humbled by such praise considering this is my first attempt at writing a children’s book.

I wanted to share some information with people about this journey.  Last year, when I was in Australia for my initial research trip for my primary book, Guardians Down Under: The Unsung Heroes Saving Australia’s Vanishing Wildlife, I had no intention of writing a children’s book.  However, after numerous conversations with wildlife volunteers across Australia, it became clear that educating the younger generation about the importance of Australia’s unique wildlife was crucial to its protection.  Hence, I took some of the biggest threats that face Australia and frustrate rescuers (i.e., not doing pouch checks or not keeping domestic animals separate from wildlife) where I thought children could make a difference in educating themselves and the adults in their lives, and put it in a book.  Knowing the attention span limitations of children, not every scenario is included, but I hope I addressed the major ones.

I have pledged to donate a portion of the sales from both this book and Guardians Down Under (when it is available) to wildlife conservation efforts in Australia. In full disclosure, book royalties are not substantial, especially when considering the costs of editors, illustrators, and marketing.  Therefore, I cannot promise a substantial amount of money to rescues or sanctuaries, but I promise to contribute what I can. I love these animals and want to protect them as much as you do. I lack the discipline to do the work that you all do daily, so this is my way of making a contribution.

At the back of the book, there is an Australian state-by-state resource guide of who to contact if you find an injured animal.  The information was gathered from publicly available sources, such as Google. If your organization is on there and the information is incomplete or incorrect, please let me know.  Additionally, if your organization is not on the list and you would like to be included, please send me the relevant information.  I would eventually like to provide direct links to organizations on my website, but that will take some time.

One final thing- if you are interested in helping, besides purchasing the book, there are other ways you can help, such as sharing the book information within your social media community or going to Amazon, Goodreads.com, or other bookstores and write a review for the book. This type of marketing/publicity is extremely helpful and the less I have to do that, the more time I can dedicate to finishing Guardians Down Under.

Additionally, I will be in Canberra at the Wildlife Conference from August 5th to 9th to collect additional research and data for others interested in participating in Guardians Down Under—which I hope to have completed in time for the 2027 wildlife conference.  If you’re attending and have purchased a print copy of the book, I would be happy to sign it. Regrettably, due to logistical reasons, I will likely not have many physical copies of the book on hand while I’m at the conference.

Thank you for your work and I hope to see some of you in Canberra. Please stay connected by signing up for updates on my website. As someone who receives far too many emails, I promise to be judicious with updates and refrain from spamming.