“With this book I celebrate the creative power that pervades the natural world and my connection to it.” So writes Owens as she introduces twelve poetic tributes to the birds and beasts of latitudes where both snow and heat round out each year. In April, “Sing Praise with peepers all night long / beside the sprouting / cattail pond, / while mallard nests / with watchful eye / and wood frogs sing / their lullaby.” On one side of that page this poem is swathed in a small visual wreath of cattail leaves and peepers. On the other a detailed, full page illustration represents a pond where turtles, frogs eggs, a duck sitting on eggs, and other creatures in nature’s camouflage can be discovered. Children will enjoy finding and then naming the creatures almost hidden in every pair of circles and pictures. Original music on the final page suggests another way for families to use Owens’s lovely book. (Ages 5-8)