Lizards on the Prowl

 

Neighbors are always trying to eat you, as a certain collared finds out in my story “Lizard Lunch,” now available in The Creative Field Guide to Northeastern Oklahoma. My little reptilian opus is one of dozens of pieces packed into the niftiest design job I’ve seen in years, with photography and paintings spilling out of every page.

 

The Creative Field Guide project began in 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic when schools were shut and kids and adults were stuck at home. Many of us turned to the outdoors for solace and certainty. “Go touch some grass” was a common phrase—meaning whatever worries you were experiencing, they might be alleviated by going outside and touching something real, alive, and natural. People also took up new creative hobbies, like baking bread, journaling, or trying out a new art form. In that dark first year of the pandemic, it was clear that creativity was needed in all areas of our lives—in business, in education, at home, and in the caretaking of ourselves and the planet. Combining these ideas, the Creative Field Guide to Northeastern Oklahoma was born: a book that grounds its readers in this place and expands the field guide genre with original artwork, creative writing, and creative writing prompts and art activities.

 

The Creative Field Guide to Northeastern Oklahoma inspires people of all ages to spend time outside and learn about the place in which they live (and the creatures with which they share it) and endeavor to protect and create art about it. While the book is designed for youth, it helps foster the creative inner worlds of people of all ages, encouraging them to share their perspectives with the outer world and to value and care for our environment.

 

You don’t have to live in Oklahoma to love this book. Take a copy into your backyard, a neighborhood park, or a state park—it works with you wherever you can be outside.

 

Get your Creative Field Guide.