Here's another page from the dummy for the picture book below. Peep is a plucky little guy. He goes on a quest: He want's to know, "Am I a bird?" Along the way he meets all kinds of unusual birds and learns a lot along the way.

I was inspired to write this story by a toddler and his Mom who were having an argument while watching penguins. Toddler, "Fish." Mom, "No it's a bird. Toddler, "FISH." Mom, "No it's a bird that lives in the water." Toddler, "FISH!" Mom, Laughing and trying to explain. "Toddler, "FISH, FISH, FISH!!"

I had fun with this one. What after all would a mole be reading?

Four in a series: Maybe this will end up being a wordless picture book or maybe I'll come up with the text as I create the pictures. I've never done it this way before, but why not.

Penguins learn to swim, but aren't very good at it at first. I photographed this trio of juveniles at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. They were having a marvelous time in the water, but kept bumping into each other, splashing, and bobbing back up to the surface when they tried to dive–It was fun to see.

One of my heroes, Darwin. He wasn't the only one to come up with the concept of evolution, but he wrote about it so clearly and eloquently. Alfred Russel Wallace led an equally remarkable life and came up with the same conclusions simultaneously, so maybe my next portrait has to be about Wallace.