Roxy Hreb and Zach Fieldman were attending High Tech High School when they got the idea for their new self-published book, “Eco the Elephant Saves the Jungle.”
Hreb, a resident of Jersey City, and Fieldman, a resident of Hoboken, hope that their new children’s book will make children more aware of climate change. The main message is about action, recognizing a problem, and learning how to solve it.
“By changing the social paradigms surrounding environmental issues starting from an early age, we hope to make a more widespread change through the lessons shown in Eco le Elephant, ” said the authors.
Feeling that there were no businesses in the school, they started a business club so that people would be interested in building a business. Hreb and Fieldman are environmental experts in Hi Tech, which contributed to the environmental theme of the book.
“I always wanted to write books that would be published,” said Hreb. “I thought it was going to be a story, but we started with a children’s book. It came from both business and environmental needs.”
Hreb and Fieldman also found inspiration for the book from the Peppa Pig series and Dr. Seuss books like The Lorax. Neither of them had younger siblings for inspiration, so they both had to dive into summer reading and children’s books and science books.
“We wanted an animal that kids could identify with that was modeled in a way that kids could put in their shoes,” Hreb said. “We came up with the Eco name first and then took the information from there.”
In the process of building and managing an LLC dedicated to sustainable business practices, the High Tech seniors made sure the Eco book was printed on recycled paper and using eco-friendly inks. The book was illustrated by New York artist Zelda Jones.
The authors plan to create a series of Eco the Elephant books and are looking to develop a line of toys, clothing, and television shows around their name, Eco.
Hreb and Fieldman both graduated from High Tech this year. In the future, Zach wants to pursue a career as an environmental entrepreneur, while Roxy will pursue a career in environmental startups focused on renewable energy.
Next fall, Zach will attend San Diego State University to major in Business and Entrepreneurship. Roxy will attend Harvard University majoring in Environmental Studies or Economics.
You can order a physical or digital copy of “Eco the Elephant” by visiting www.ecotheelephant.com; you can also find copies at local bookstores in Hudson County, including Little City Books, 100 Bloomfield St., Hoboken, and Little Boho Bookshop, 164A Broadway, Bayonne.
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