As a former teacher and elementary school principal, I always felt that this poem, originally written nearly 30 years ago by my mother, Frances Rutan Hoy Pringle, needed to find its way into print. The cadence and delivery of the text called out for a grandparent and a lap. It would be many years, life adventures, jobs, and the flurry of raising three children of my own before I could eventually realize my goal of bringing this poem to life as a published children’s book.
Frances was born in Coalinga and raised in Orange Cove, where her father grew citrus on their family farm. She wrote “I Love The Fresno Chaffee Zoo” after travelling through Central America and living in Panama, where she met and married Ruperto Pringle, a Panamanian newspaper journalist. They eventually returned to the Central Valley to live in Fresno and Clovis, where both she and her husband delighted in regularly taking her many grandchildren to Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
Back then, the Zoo was quite different than it is today, and there have been many historic changes. As a result of Measure Z, what had been a small local Zoo has literally transformed into a world class attraction, drawing visitors from throughout the state and beyond.
After I retired in 2024, I finally had the time to revisit this passion project, to find a talented Illustrator, and to enhance the interactive features of the book by formatting it as a lift-the-flap board book, which has been so engaging for my own very young grandchildren.
Working with the leadership team of Fresno Chaffee Zoo, we updated the poem to reflect current animals and practices, and illustrated each page to be immediately recognized as the iconic Fresno Chafee Zoo landmarks and habitats. To match the AZA, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, recognized World Class status of today’s Fresno Chaffee Zoo, I enlisted the internationally recognized talents of Scottish illustrator Sally Garland and London-based Paper Engineer Alan Brown, both of whom have extensive success in the field of Children’s books.
It is with tremendous pride that this book has now been launched and that a portion of the ongoing proceeds will directly benefit the many high quality education programs, conservation efforts, and operational initiatives at this world class facility.
Together, we look forward to launching this brand-new book at Fresno Chaffee Zoo, and know that Zoo visitors will enjoy the reading adventure as much as we enjoyed creating and publishing it!
You can see a live reading of “I Love the Fresno Chaffee Zoo” at the Zoo’s Party for the Planet event on Saturday, April 11th. More details about the Author, Illustrator, Editor, Paper Engineer, reviews, and similar children’s books will become available on Michael E. Hoy’s website, Elton’s Bookshelf, soon.
