A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.
This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species. It offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.
An educational back section includes material developed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and Discover Life in America, an organization which manages the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Also included is a “Word to Parents” from Doug Tallamy, father of the Homegrown National Park movement, which inspired the author Frances Figart to write this book. Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. His books include Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants and the New York Times bestseller Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard.
About the author
Frances Figart edits Smokies Life Journal and directs the creative team at Smokies Life. Camilla and the Caterpillars is her third book for young readers, joining Mabel Meets a Black Bear (2023), and A Search for Safe Passage (2021), recognized as Publication of the Year by the Public Lands Alliance in 2022. Frances grew up at a summer camp in Eastern Kentucky where her mother called their home Hickory Hill. She now lives on a small piece of land in the Cherokee National Forest north of Asheville, North Carolina, where she once chanced to meet a Hickory Horned Devil in her backyard under a native walnut tree. Photo by Michele Sons.
About the illustrator
Matt Brass retired from his job as vice president of creative at an ad agency specializing in sustainability and the environment in 2021 after working there for 17 years. Soon after, he founded Smoky Outfitters, a company that creates art inspired by different destinations around the United States, especially national parks. Look for more of Matt’s illustration work on a water bottle sold in the park’s visitor center bookstores that incorporates his stickers depicting popular park destinations. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife, Larisa, and four of their seven children. Photo provided by Matt Brass.
Collaborative Partners
