ZANESVILLE – Nine-year-old Sophie Moon wants to be brave. She wants to have friends. She wants to spend time with her family. She wants to be accepted.
Szilvia Jennings’ first children’s book was just published. It follows Sophie and her adventures as she grows up, faces new challenges and learns about life.
“Sophie Moon and the Honeybees” is Jennings’ debut as an author and the introduction to a five-book series centering on the young girl.
The first 54-page book has a little bit of Jennings in it, especially the part about the bees.
Jennings is a beekeeper, with several hives in the backyard of her western Muskingum County home, and the bees were the first inspiration when she wanted to write a book.
“Surely people want to know about bees,” Jennings thought aloud. “I thought I (would) write about my bees and what they put me through every year.”
At first, the bees were the subject of her early version, but, much like Sophie, Jennings had to grow a little bit in her own right as she’s gone through the publishing process.
The first manuscript was quickly nixed once in the hands of an editor.
“She tore it apart. She said it’s no good. ‘You have to rewrite this. It’s too boring and it’s weighty.’ The children will not like it,'” Jennings recalled.
So, she revisited the story and added a new character. That’s where Sophie was born.
“She’s a lovely little girl. She’s insecure. She would like to try new things because she thinks she’s not good enough,” Jenning noted. “Sophie visits her grandpa every season for school holidays, and he encourages her by doing things. The first one is beekeeping.”
“I was able to write a little bit about bees, what you need for keeping bees, and some of their behaviors. They were just like a blanket for Sophie to fall back on, and then she can just evolve and become this cute little girl trying new things and being brave,” she added.
As the story develops, so does Sophie and her adventures. In each book Sophie gets a year older and begins to experience tougher life lessons, like the bees’ life and death cycle, bullying, loneliness and a friend leaving for basic training.
However, Sophie Moon always finds solace when returning to the hives, Jenning explained.
“One good part in the story is when she has some troubles, Grandpa tells her that why don’t we go and whisper to the bees? That’s an old myth of beekeeping. If you want to keep your hive happy, you have to go and talk to them every day,” Jennings added. “That’s the way for her to also find answers to her troubles…Going back to nature helps her.”
The second book
Jennings is already finished with the second book in the series, “Sophie Moon and the Boat.” The third installation is in the works and is called “Sophie Moon and the Coop.”
The second book is due out in July or August, Jennings noted, and the rest are expected to follow incrementally through the rest of 2026 and 2027.”Sophie Moon and the Honeybees” is available for $15 on Amazon, Book.by, Jones Bookstore, IngramSpark and Jennings own website jenningsauthor.com.
Shawn Digity is a reporter for the Zanesville Times Recorder. He can be emailed at sdigity@gannett.com or found on X at @ShawnDigityZTR.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Bees inspired new author to write ‘Sophie Moon’ series for children
Reporting by Shawn Digity, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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