It was an honour to be invited to participate in this event on September 18th (2026), organized by the Embassy of Canada to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras in San José, Costa Rica. More than twenty embassies donated a book  to Costa Rica’s National Library, varying in themes from peace to poetry to nature. My children’s book, Lucy Loves Nature, was one of the contributions from Canada, and I was invited to sit on a panel moderated by Canadian Ambassador Ioanna Sahas Martin (second from the right) about the importance of literature to address global challenges such as climate change, conflict and inequality, alongside National Library director Laura Rodríguez Amador (second from the left), Regional Director of UNESCO Alexander Leicht (far left) and Viceminister of the Ministry of Culture and Youth, Alexander Castro (middle).

Many of you may not know that I have a four-legged friend who now collaborates on Finca Cántaros environmental education outreach activities: our horse, Camaleón! Last week, the Lucy Loves Nature puppets (Lucy, Yiggy and a toucan) and I rode him over to an area where a visiting school group came to plant and grow trees… and ended up with the puppet show as a surprise.
We try to keep things interesting!

In addition to surprising students by horseback, we’ve been using regular transportation to bring the Lucy Loves Nature book and the puppet show to all the schools located in the “AmistOsa Biological Corridor,” a regional collective of government, academic, business and nonprofit actors dedicated to connecting the Amistad International Park with the Osa Peninsula, through collaborations that benefit the communities and the environment. At each school, we are donating a copy of the book as well as a beautiful guide to the birds of the AmistOsa (see photos below of team member Magaly Quesada presenting the guide, and the director presenting both the guide and book at another school).