“I’m a kid at heart, definitely,” says author David Chapman, explaining how writing children’s books on the environment comes naturally to him.

“I kind of try to think like my children when I write,” adds the father-of-four. “I explore with my children and they are naturally into exploring their environment. My children feel ownership of the books too. They actually are more like part of the team now. They are quick to say: ‘We can do this or that for the next book’.”

Mr. Chapman launched the latest in his Daddy and I Explore...series last week at the Bank of Bermuda, which has funded the project and is distributing the book free of charge to all public and private primary schools.

The glossy paperback features pictures of him and his seven-year-old son Judah but Mr. Chapman is quick to point out that they are not the real focus of the book but rather Bermuda’s mangroves and how important it is for fathers to spend time with their kids.

“People say to me: ‘Oh, your book is great. It’s got you and your kids in’,” he said. “The book is not about me and my children. They just happen to be the subject. I could have used any kids but we actually do this, we explore together. They understand what I’m trying to do in the sense of this is a larger project and it’s about the environment and it’s about dads.”

Daddy and I Explore...The Mangroves took the 32-year-old from Hamilton Parish about a year to complete. He worked with photographer and graphic designer Cherie Richardson to capture the Island’s red and black mangrove trees and the creatures that live among them. Mr. Chapman, who teaches environmental science at Berkeley Institute, says black people in Bermuda have not always been as “connected” to environmental issues as others in the community. His books are aimed at fostering that interest at an early age.

Equally important, he says, is that the series promotes the need for dads to connect with their children.

“We are a small society and there is this running issue of estranged fathers and even fathers who are not separated not spending time with their children,” he says.

“The two biggest issues in school causing many of our young people not to be successful is poor literacy skills and dysfunctional families, which most of the time includes an absent father. This is hopefully a direct appeal to fathers and mothers to include fathers in their children’s lives.” He agrees with recent comments by the Premier that it is important for Bermudian children to see themselves in the textbooks they use at school.

“That’s why this book is designed the way it is,” he says. “It’s not just for black children but for people of colour. Even in my class I teach Sri Lankans, Indian children, Asian children. The book can be used for all genres of people but it’s important that they see themselves within the topics they are learning about.”

Copies of Mr. Chapman’s latest book, which follows last year’s Daddy and I Explore...The Tide Pools and is aimed at children aged between five and ten, are being sent to countries in the Caribbean, thanks to a Government grant.

Education Minister Randy Horton believes the book touches on important subjects in Bermuda where “too few of our fathers are connecting with their sons”. “I think first and foremost what we see here is a book that will bring more relevancy to our curriculum,” he says. “The more relevant the curriculum is the easier it is for young people to understand. I commend Mr. Chapman for that.”

* Daddy and I Explore...The Mangroves is available to buy at bookstores across the Island.