Now available ...

My picture book, MOUNTAIN GOATS are KIDS like YOU! is now available through the Lulu Marketplace. Click here for more information. It's written for kids ages 4-8 years, but if you like mountain goats, it can be enjoyed at any age. All the photographs were taken by me in Glacier National Park. It's a fun little book and I hope you'll want to check it out ...

MOUNTAIN GOATS are KIDS like YOU!

Coming Soon!

Happy Easter!

ROCKABET: Classic Edition

Are you ready to rock A to Z?

Let's roll through some music history!

Thank God for birthdays! If there is anything good about being a year older, it's getting gift cards for Amazon. Because of that, I was finally able to get Kelly Polark's fantastic picture book, ROCKABET: Classic Edition. Being the lover of all things red plaid, I fell in love with Kelly's book way before I ever got it just because of the cover. It was illustrated by Kelli Ann Little, who did an amazing job drawing all of the classic rock bands. Obviously, it's an alphabet book, so you know I loved that part right away. My favorite pages are E and W, but you'll have to read the book to find out why. If you follow Kelly, you might remember how she gave Pink a copy of her book at a concert not too long ago. How cool is that!

What makes this book so great—besides the fact it's an alphabet book—is that it's a book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. I'm in my late 40s, so I loved seeing all the classic rock groups. This book is a fantastic way for younger generations to get to know these bands and possibly even start enjoying some of their music. As stated on Amazon, "ROCKABET: Classic Edition introduces classic artists of rock 'n' roll in catchy couplets. This fun book promotes the arts, literacy, and learning the ABC's. Cute illustrations depict musicians in a childlike manner. Reading rocks!"

As a music loving family, we totally love this book—a lot! I can't wait to see what Kelly comes out with next. Because this one is titled "Classic Edition", I'm hoping she has other books to come. I totally recommend this book to anyone who loves classic rock. It rocks!

ROCKABET: Classic Edition available @ Amazon

ISBN: 09888462-0-9

ISBN-13: 978-0-9888462-03

Published by Big Smile Press, LLC

Kelly Polark's Blog

Squirrely Scurry!

Squirrely Scurry ... say that three times fast! I take many pictures of squirrels—too many—I'm sure. The other day I was photographing one in the feeder and I mentioned it was a different one. Rick goes, "You can tell them apart?" I guess I can, especially now that I've taken so many photos. The squirrel pictured above is the one I photograph most often. I call her "Squirrely". She's pretty easy to distinguish by the straight line that goes up her nose.

This squirrel pictured above could very well be Squirrely's brother or sister. This one has a much darker, richer looking coat. I love the dark, chestnut color of his or her fur.

This is another squirrel in the scurry pictured above. This one looks a lot like Squirrely, but you can see it's a different one by the nose markings. When the second and third squirrels are in the feeder, Squirrely sits on the rock and chirps and chatters up a storm. She doesn't like sharing her seeds with these two.

I'm pretty sure this was their mother. I named her "Nips", and you can probably see why. She was the resident squirrel at my feeder for a very long time. Some of you might remember her. She was the one who got me interested in photographing squirrels.

Now I *think* these are the three squirrels who are hanging around right now—or the first three I posted above. I'm not positive, of course, but I'm thinking these are the same ones. I also think they might be the babies of Nips. One day I got a few pictures of them playing together in the tree. They must have just started coming out of their nest.

This last picture is bizarre. I've seen them do this only ONCE. They were both so young here, so I guess they weren't too possessive yet. Squirrels generally don't like to share food once they get older, so I consider myself fortunate to get some pictures of them together. Now if I see two in the feeder, it's always a massive battle. They usually fight so viciously, flinging themselves out and over the deck railing—tossing seeds everywhere in the process.

The three squirrels have been coming out at the same time lately, so there's been a lot of chattering going on ... and chasing, and fighting, and screeching. Now that I can tell them apart better, I need to come up with a name for the other two. After all, I can't call them all Squirrely!