Toby Beavers

Toby Beavers loves ALL animals, especially giraffes. He always wanted a baby giraffe as a child when growing up in New York City, but NO! Instead, he received a six-foot stuffed giraffe that he could climb on. It eventually surrendered to Toby's increasing weight and went mysteriously missing when he returned home from school one day - thanks Mom! A lifelong naturalist, Toby led an adventure-packed expedition to catch birds and insects in the Amazon with backing from the Smithsonian Institute....See more

Toby Beavers loves ALL animals, especially giraffes. He always wanted a baby giraffe as a child when growing up in New York City, but NO! Instead, he received a six-foot stuffed giraffe that he could climb on. It eventually surrendered to Toby's increasing weight and went mysteriously missing when he returned home from school one day - thanks Mom! A lifelong naturalist, Toby led an adventure-packed expedition to catch birds and insects in the Amazon with backing from the Smithsonian Institute. Toby Beavers grew up in New York City with 3 brothers. All three brothers including his father bullied each other endlessly. My father, having lived through the Great Depression, was old-school and believed belittling someone in front of others was the way to mold them into a 'stronger' man. The ubiquitous Sunday family meal was the worst! Every day I arrived home from school my first question to my mother was, 'are you going out tonight?' There were no bullying books for kids on the market. In fact, many of the books were about and encouraged bullying. Children's manners and morals are important to learn at a young age. Beavers was sent to boarding school at 13 and was quite small in stature. His wild, unhinged sense of humor made him the perfect target for older kids to bully and beat on. As he grew older and wiser, he finally learned how to stand up to bullying. Today, Toby lives in Charlottesville with his wife, Terri, and spends his days gardening and writing funny anti-bullying books for parents, teachers and early beginner readers. See less