New children’s book “Chasing Jacarandas” teaches plant life

A mother and daughter have teamed up to write a new children’s book.

“Chasing Jacarandas” is about a mother and daughter who go on a nature walk through the neighborhood. As they travel, the young girl learns about plants and their medicinal properties.

Erin Mulay and her mother, Marybeth Ostrander, are both working pharmacists and have studied plants. Ostrander has also taught at Montessori School.

The authors of “Chasing Jacarandas”, Mulay and Ostrander, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss how their dynamic as mother-daughter impacted their work.

“I had always wanted to write a book of some kind my whole life,” Ostrander said, “…once I had grandchildren, then I knew I wanted to write a book for them.”

According to Mulay, the writing process initially started back in 2020, when things were quieter, and they had some extra time to bring the book to life. The story began with Mulay’s oldest daughter, Audrey, when she was just a toddler. The family would walk around the neighborhood in the springtime and point out the Jacaranda trees, as they thought they were beautiful.

“So that kind of inspired the storyline of, you know, different stops throughout the day, and pointing them out,” Mulay explained.

Ostrander emphasized that the book is meant to teach kids about noticing the environment around them, taking a walk, and appreciating downtime.

“I love writing, and we went from rhyming to, not rhyming to rhyming again,” Ostrander said, “…and Aaron was very helpful with the rhyming because she has a music background, so she would be like, let’s count the beats of these words, and so that helped a lot.”

Both Ostrander and Mulay are pharmacists, as Ostrander emphasized that her favorite part of Pharmacy has been the botany and biology aspect.