Bee the difference
A new children’s book has been released which aims to inspire young children and show how all contributions can make a positive difference.
Released last week to coincide with World Bee Day by UCC, it is based on a bee who lives in the historic quad.
'A Bee at UCC' takes readers on journey to discover the humble bee’s important role in our ecosystem and is aimed for readers aged six-nine.
The book is written by JP Quinn, Head of the UCC Visitors’ Centre and is illustrated by UCC graphic designer Charlie Ruxton.
It follows the story of Booley the Bee on her journey to discover her purpose in the ecosystem.
Whilst sustainability and the environment are the central themes of this story, the main message of the book is to highlight to children that all of their contributions in life have a significant impact on the world, regardless of how small they may appear at the time.
The book will also form a focal point for a new project developed and run by the UCC Visitors Centre to deliver the message of sustainability to primary school children.
JP Quinn said: “In pre-pandemic times, the Visitors' Centre ran a Junior Conferring Programme which welcomes over 10,000 primary students per year on tours of UCC. The pandemic changed that, so I was looking for a new way to collaborate with schools.
“‘A Bee at UCC’ will be the centerpiece of a new output from the Visitors' Centre where we will also visit schools as well as having schools visit us.
“We have enjoyed hosting schools since 2005 and we are now looking forward to visiting schools to bring this new project to their doors.”
The book is largely inspired by UCC’s Green Campus and the beehives at the North Mall campus, managed by award winning beekeeper Thomas Quigley.
In March 2020 UCC celebrated the ten year anniversary of being the first university in the world to be awarded a Green Flag, which has been successfully renewed four times. UCC is currently ranked ninth globally in the UI Green Metric World University Ranking of sustainable universities, and ranked eighth in the world in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
The book will be available later in the year. With an initial print of 1,000 copies, the book will be available at national libraries across the country and available to purchase online and via UCC.