Too late to send her back,
tempted by a foraging pavement ant,
the path across a flower
just barely three dimensional.

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Pavement ant | Tetramorium caespitum
Praying mantis | Tenodera aridifolia sinensis

Stealing the scene after a jump-cut,
a grackle makes up for lost time,
momentarily disappearing into the dark trees.

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Grackle | Quiscalus quiscula

My exhibit and Step Gently Out book signing at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art April 6th
was so much fun, dozens of copies of Step Gently Out sold and signed,
and our presentation was very enthusiastically received.
Helen Frost has so many friends and supporters and the museum
was a great venue for our book.

Rick Lieder, Helen Frost, Anne Hall.

Erika Rohrbach from Kirkus Reviews did an interview with Helen Frost and me about Step Gently Out and how our collaboration works. It’s live on their site now.
“With Step Gently Out, the stunning first-time collaboration between poet Helen Frost and nature photographer Rick Lieder, proponents of the odd separation of author from illustrator in children’s publishing are hereby put on notice.”
“The marriage between word and image in this gorgeous picture book melds one poem encouraging young readers to explore insect wonders of the natural world with breathtakingly intimate photographs captured …

A great review of Step Gently Out by Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing:
“Step Gently Out is children’s picture book in which poet Helen Frost’s verse accompanies the incredible garden insect photographs of artist/photographer Rick Lieder. I’ve written here many times about Rick’s Bugdreams photos, and they never fail to impress and move me. Lieder’s photographic portraits of bugs are all the sweeter for his method, which is to patiently crouch in his Michigan back-yard for hours and hours, waiting for the shot; it’s a wonderful alternative to the traditional dead-bug-on-a-pin …

Step Gently Out, my picture book with Helen Frost, will be showcased at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art this Friday, April 6th. I’ll also be doing a multimedia presentation, including new video footage and still images, and answering any questions about the book.
“To celebrate this new work, Fort Wayne Museum of Art will have a book signing and an opening reception for an exhibition of the images from the book, which will be hanging in the Edward D. Auer Memorial Art Library.”
If you’re near Fort Wayne, please come …