#OA:5

[youngestrunningleek]

Expedition Backyard

Today's review is ...

Expedition Backyard

Exploring Nature from Country to City

by

Rosemary Mosco, Binglin Hu, Ashanti Fortson (color design) Desolina Fletcher (flatting assistance)

I was thinking to myself the other day, “does anyone know what a vole is?” They’re kind of just like… generic rodents. I know the word. But they’re never the center of things, the way that mice are. There’s no famous voles. So, I looked up voles at my local library, and what do you know? I found one book with a vole.

It’s a children’s picture/comic book, about best friends Mole and Vole exploring nature.

The book is gorgeous. I feel like every page blows me away and makes me a better person. I can tell care went into every single one. The wobbly panel borders are comforting.

It’s a love letter to my very favorite kind of nature: backyard nature. Wildlife documentaries are great, but this book elevates the local wildlife. It helps that it’s very New England-based, which is where live, too. The book has a strong message that whether you’re in a rural or urban area, you can find wonderful things.

Mole and Vole are a delight. Their friendship is pure love, and it’s infectious. Mole is more cautious while Vole is more adventurous. They’re a perfect duo.

Mole and Vole hold each other's hands and at the same time say "Time to watch NATURE SHOWS in the house!"

It’s not just beautiful and joyful, it teaches things. They pass by a stone and mention it was dropped by a glacier during the last ice age. That’s real! Glacial erratics are a thing! They casually teach readers that honeybees are actually an introduced species to the US, and there are many species of bees, some of which aren’t yellow-and-black. The end of the book has useful tips on composting, community gardens, keeping birds safe from windows, and more.

A 2-panel spread where we see Mole and Vole walking in the park. They see many types of birds and hear their calls.

At one point, they meet a snake and a spider. I particularly liked those two, because they were characterized as trying to be scary. The DeKay’s brownsnake is a “TERRIFYING hunter!”, who hunts only the most fearsome prey… slugs and worms. The jumping spider calls itself vicious, but the next panel has Vole looking at how cute, small and fuzzy it is.

The aforementioned panels with trying-to-be-tough spider and snake.

        I haven’t seen that characterization before, for spiders and snakes. Plenty of media shows them as monsters. Plenty of people who like them will say they’re not gross. But that’s not helpful to someone who’s afraid. So, making them adorable as they try to seem tough is a neat synthesis of those two ideas. The book makes space for being afraid of nature, instead of assuming people will love every second of it.

When I finished, I realized it’s a 5/5 on my personal ranking and on my general ranking. I can’t imagine how it would have done its job better. I wasn’t thinking “this is a 5/5 book” while I read it, because I was only thinking about how delightful it is. I’m incredibly glad I found this book by chance.

Have you read this book, or one like it?

Sorry I still have no scanner.

[usaac-official]

An OA-10A of the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron in England, 1945

[opelman]

115-OA / 524 - Dassault Mirage 2000 B by Laurent Quérité Via Flickr: French Air Force EC 2/5 Ile de France BA 115 LFMO Orange Caritat France IMG_9184

[zillace]

OA Zidan & Tiffany Wallace

FBI — 5.02 Love Is Blind

[renegadesstuff]

Zibell hugs 💛

[mistressvera]

[animated-character-of-the-day]

Today’s character of the day is: Ann Takamaki aka Panther from Persona 5

[emjoyy]

[anhandfulgirl18]

[novelswithariana]

The way Maggie clearly had flashbacks from the Sarin gas case and was shaking during this episode. Not to mention the way OA's eyes were filled with tears. He was clearly afraid that he would lose Maggie. I think the hug they had was not enough. Like they clearly needed a long hug together after that. Instead they just did a side hug and left it at that.

[breeleroux]

Look everyone has been taking hits this season, Scola with Nina/baby getting shot, Omar with the robbery/losing his money to cryptocurrency/attacks on Muslims, Tiffany with her brother/losing her friend the informant, Isobel with having to be the bad guy and kept secrets from her team, Jubal with his son's cancer scares/alcohol problem. I can't help but think that Maggie is about to experience something heading into the finale for this season, especially since they kind of wrapped up her anxiety over the sarin gas really quickly. They all need therapy and just a chill episode with them having fun.

[identityarchitect]

oh GOD

[usaac-official]

Miss Pick Up and crew of 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron at Halesworth, England

[opelman]

115-OA /524 - Dassault Mirage 2000 B by Laurent Quérité Via Flickr: French Air Force EC 2/5 Ile de France BA 115 Orange Caritat (LFMO) France IMG_2270

[zillace]

OA Zidan & Tiffany Wallace

FBI — 5.01 Hero’s Journey

[renegadesstuff]

Maggie Bell & OA Zidan in S5E12, “Breakdown” 🤍