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Exposure to the natural world has always been a way of life for Consie Powell. During her childhood in California, Consie snooped tidepools edging the Pacific Ocean, found desert tortoises and horned lizards in nearby canyons, and camped with her family along dry Baja riverbeds. Animals and the out-of-doors were her constant companions, and her parents were delightfully tolerant of whatever interesting critters she might bring home. In college in Minnesota, she discovered how much she loved cold weather and snow, and began her enduring fascination with the critters and habitats of the North. After graduating from Carleton College with a B.A. in Fine Arts, Consie pursued a Master's degree in Elementary Education. Her graduate work steered Consie not towards teaching, as she had expected, but into the creation of art and stories for young people. Combining images and words was a perfect marriage of art and education. Marriage to her biologist husband added constant opportunities to be involved with scientific research firsthand and to continue a rich life centered on the natural world. Consie has written and illustrated books with bugs and bears, spiders and snow, dogs and kids, and any number of other wild natural beasties and places. Readers of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine enjoy Consie's work regularly: Consie illustrates, designs, edits and occasionally writes the North Carolina WILD Notebook, a monthly young readers' feature in the magazine. She has created illustrations for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and for scholarly books and scientific publications. Visitors to the North Carolina Zoo can see Consie’s "Field Sketching" triptych near the streamside exhibit; these panels were created during her tenure as the Zoo's first Visiting Artist. Consie lives in Raleigh, NC and Ely, MN with her husband Roger, and their Newfoundland dogs. Over the years, their house has been home to various critters, including snakes, toads, lizards, mice, guinea pigs, weasels and an animal-loving daughter, now grown and on her own. |
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Wolf Song A touching tale of a young girl who learns to appreciate the beauty and wonder of wolves, Wolf Song is a perfect book for any child learning to love nature and the great outdoors. All pages feature colorful, scratchboard illustrations that accurately depict wolfpack behavior. |
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A Day in the Salt Marsh Enjoy a day in one of the most dynamic habitats on earth: the salt marsh. Fun-to-read, rhyming verse introduces readers to hourly changes in the marsh as the tide comes and goes. Watch the animals that have adapted to this ever-changing environment as they hunt for food or play in the sun, and learn how the marsh grass survives even when it is covered by salt water twice a day. An activity on adaptations is included in the For Creative Minds section. |
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A Bold Carnivore: An Alphabet of Predators Forget “H is for Horse” or “R is for Rabbit.” In this colorful book of ABCs, H stands for hawk and R is for ringtail. The animals in this book aren’t just any animals. Each letter of the alphabet refers to a North American predator, and large, simple text describes the animal, how it hunts, and the animals on which it preys. Life-like illustrations show predators in their natural settings, and colorful border drawings depict the prey species in their habitat as well. |
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Baby Bear Isn't Hungry Baby Bear, a very curious cub, is eagerly exploring her world of bugs and bushes and puddles. When she finds herself in unfamiliar territory, she climbs a tree and starts to cry. Everything works out fine when mama bear arrives and leads baby bear back to safety and comfort. |
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Leave Only Ripples: A Canoe Country Sketchbook In the heart of North America lies a land of lakes and forest, cliffs and clouds, mystery and wildness. This remote land is the Quetico-Superior Wilderness. In this book of journal notes, field sketches and woodcuts, join a family as they travel by canoe and by foot through time and place. Touch the massive rocks that were once an ancient mountain range. Hike the portages long ago traversed by pack-toting voyageurs. Camp in the forests where hearty lumberjacks once felled mighty white pines. Paddle the waters where native people still gather wild rice. Come visit the Canoe Country with intimate glimpses of the wildlife, the shorelines, and the history. Awards |
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The First Day of Winter Bundle up and head outside! Winter in the woods is a time for outdoor fun — and exploration, too. A lot is going on, and nature leaves clues all around. The woods are alive with animals — fox, red squirrel, hare — who find a way to survive this coldest season. Exuberant verse and crisp paintings pay tribute to winter, which is surprisingly bursting with life. This story is also a counting book, and a section in the back includes additional information about the animals discovered each day. |
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Amazing Apples Acrostic poems made from apple-themed words lead readers through the growing season—from early spring buds to apple-picking time to naked tree branches resting in winter. Illustrated with hand-colored woodblock prints, Amazing Apples also includes some apple history as well as ideas about what to do with apples. Children will enjoy the flavor-filled poems that celebrate this popular fruit. |
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Old Dog Cora and the Christmas Tree Christmas is coming, and it’s time for the family to head into the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree. Cora, a Newfoundland dog, is ready to wear her old red harness so she can haul the tree home as she’s done every year. But Mom and Dad think Cora’s too old, and only Minx and Ebony, Cora’s daughter and granddaughter, are fitted with their harnesses. Luckily, young Susan suggests Cora still come along even if she can’t haul. After the family finds the tree and cuts it down, Cora is ready to get to work. But something’s wrong; they’re starting without her! Hand-colored woodcuts illustrate snowy scenes in this memorable Christmas story about work, love, and a dog with heart. |
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Who Lives in the Snow Although on the surface the snow looks quiet and serene, life down under is anything but: mites search for small insects, spiders prey on springtails, the unsociable shrew hunts for spiders and beetles, the vole builds tunnels through the snow, and the chipmunk, waking in its winter bed deep in the ground, nibbles on seeds it has stored under its mattress of leaves. In the meadow, the red fox hunts for breakfast as it trots across the icy crust of the snow. Carefully researched, Who Lives in the Snow describes these remarkable creatures who survive and often flourish in their dark winter world. |
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