Aviation Management student and local author Cyndie Pratt believes that changing people’s attitudes about the environment begins with literacy.

Pratt launched The Quest, book number four in her Oafie Bookshelf Series, at the Barrie Library last December.

The series has an environmental theme and has roots in the island of Sri Lanka, her native land. She created the character of Oafie, a blue elephant with a long list of animal and human pals, to illustrate and spread the word about protecting our planet.

The new Canadian was motivated to pen her personal environmental manifesto by an environmental citizenship course.

“Canada is the landscape of dreams,” says Pratt. “I take my responsibility as a Canadian citizen very seriously and believe that each person is endowed with special talents intended to make the world a better place.”

Pratt has written 15 children’s books over the past 15 years in both Sri Lanka and Canada. She also runs Sparks Unlimited, a small book publishing company that distributes books and related products.