For Children’s Day… a story about the beaver!

June 1st is a holiday that all too often becomes just another excuse to buy a plastic toy. With your children’s future in mind, try spending this year’s Children’s Day differently—together, close to one another, talking about important things and exploring the fascinating secrets of nature. Your guide might just be a friendly beaver!

A quiet hero with a bad PR

In the past decade, children’s imaginations have been captured by paw patrols, boots-wearing cats, and kung fu pandas. But a true and real-life superhero lives in our fields and forests—the beaver. Hunted for centuries for its fur, meat, and fat, today it returns as an animal that can help us combat the effects of climate change. And yet, we still talk about it far too little!

Most kids and adults know beavers build dams. But how, why, and what comes of it? These questions are a great starting point for opening a conversation about the fragile biological balance and the amazing mechanisms that maintain it. A story about the value of every drop of water, the wisdom of Mother Nature, and the occasional foolishness of humans. And it’s the friendly, hardworking, and incredibly clever beavers that can lead this important conversation.

Give a book for Children’s Day

No toy brings a child and parent closer together than a book. Read to me, mom is an invitation to cuddle up, step away from daily life, and go on an adventure together. Where to exactly? The book Why do beavers build dams? by Agnieszka Hobot takes us into the world of wetlands and winding rivers, where beaver families build structures that would put many architects to shame.

Wherever they move in, the landscape changes dramatically. Above the dams, wetlands form, soon teeming with frogs, dragonflies, and waterfowl. Beavers, like nature’s engineers, create living conditions for species that can’t survive without water.

But that’s not all. When drought comes and forest streams dry up, deer, foxes, and even wolves will find water in beaver ponds. Everyone needs to drink, after all. And when a storm hits and torrential rains fall, beaver reservoirs hold enough water to protect anthills, meadows, and even human homes. How, why, and what it all means—you’ll learn in this unique book about these still-underappreciated animals.

How about a trip to a beaver lodge?

This year, Children’s Day falls on a Sunday—a perfect opportunity to spend time outside the city. No playground, entertainment center, or pool will offer your child an experience like a trip to the forest or wetlands. It’s a shame that so many adults have forgotten this, and no one’s ever told the kids.
It’s very hard to actually spot a beaver—they sleep during the day and only get to work under the cover of night. Still, a sharp eye can spot their signs: trees cut down to a pencil point, dams, and unassuming beaver lodges.

After years of relentless hunting and population decline, beavers have returned to Polish waters. The best spots are in national and landscape parks, especially in the Podlasie region, Kuyavia, the Sandomierz Basin, the Silesian Lowland, the Kaszubian and Sławskie Lake Districts, and the Bieszczady and Sudetes mountains. Even right outside Warsaw, in the Kampinos Forest, over 20 beaver families have settled.

After a wonderful day in nature, you can read Why do beavers build dams? together in the evening and reflect on how much we owe to Europe’s largest rodent. Children enchanted by the world of dams and lodges can also enter our art contest—and win a bicycle. For more adventures to come!