Caledonia mother writes children’s book inspired by daughter’s love of elephants

Local author Amber Kuipers used her daughter Harper’s love of elephants as inspiration for a new children’s book.

5-year-old Harper and her mother Amber wrote the book Harper and the Elephant together. The story is about Harper meeting a zoo keeper wanting to buy an elephant and instead learning different cool facts about elephants.

“As a kid, she’s always asked for an elephant and as she got older we explained different reasons why she actually can’t have one,” Amber said.

The mom and daughter writing duo have teamed up with Just One, a store in Caledonia, and an illustrator in Kenya who made stuffed elephants that are also for sale. “Each elephant, all the proceeds will go directly to an elephant sanctuary to help support the people who look and care for elephants,” Amber said.

Amber is hoping to sell enough copies to pay for a trip to Africa, so they can see the giant animal up close. “All of the book proceeds we make we’re putting aside for Harper to one day go to Africa and meet an elephant.”

The book launch for Harper and the Elephant is on August 3rd at Just One. The book will also be available on Amazon.