About My Work

My writing career began when I became fascinated with children's books I read to our daughter, Nichol. Lobel's Frog and Toad led me down the path I still follow. I also work as a biologist and when I tried to find nature books for Nichol, it seemed that few of them combined real life images and accurate science. In those days I was also seeing, firsthand, the incredible damage to stream and ocean habitats that was occurring in the 1970s in the Pacific Northwest. I was angry about habitat destruction, but wanted to soften my anger and turned to writing and working with kids on environmental projects.

My vision is to share nature's beauty with kids while helping them to gain a sense of responsibility for their community and the environment as a whole. Stated best in Hawaiian, I hope kids gain a sense they can Malama i ke Kai- Protect the Ocean in a way you might protect your family and friends.

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WHAT'S NEW

LIONS, TIGERS AND BEARS and Winter is for Whales are two of many new books by Ron Hirschi. These can be found at your favorite bookseller.

WHALESTREET and SNAKE RIVER TO THE SEA are two big books Ron made this past year with students in Ohio and Wyoming. He's traveling with the big books this next year to help kids learn about water and ways to make their own watersheds healthier places for fish, birds, bears, and people too.

Kids in Montana, Ohio, and Washington enjoyed the big books and added their own "Little Books" to pouches and pockets attached to Whalestreet and Snake to the Sea. This little book collection continues to grow. Each addition adds more stories and facts about rivers and ponds, lakes and oceans. This school year, Ron will take the big book project to other schools as he shares ideas about the water world.