Every time I venture up to my beloved coast redwoods, I always make time for @northtownbooks, right in the heart of Arcata. 📚 🌲 With an Incredible selection, cozy vibe, and great staff, Northtown Books was recently my main destination as I trekked northwards with WILDLIFE CROSSINGS OF HOPE. Thank you to everyone who showed up to share your love of the region—its wildlife, its incomparable natural habitats—and your interest in the crossings and corridors and un-dammed rivers (especially the Klamath!!) that are opening paths for creatures everywhere in the world. During the event, I was fortunate indeed to meet the charming and brilliant 5-year-old Clark (pictured here with his mom’s permission: thank you @traumaticallyyours!). Blown away by Clark’s knowledge and enthusiasm, I invited this budding road ecologist and conservation biologist to co-present with me. What a delight. 💚 I also learned about a high-tech solution to the too-frequent EVCs (elk vehicle collisions) in redwood country from Clark’s mom. A notorious stretch of the 101 will soon be lined with 25 poles topped with sensors that trigger a flashing warning sign when a radio-collared Roosevelt elk approaches, keeping both ungulates and motorists safe. 🦌 After the reading, I encountered a striking mountain lion mural, a kind of NorCal mirror of the many LA artworks honoring Hollywood cougar P-22. 😻 #coastredwoods #northtownbooks #arcata #mountainlion #wildlifecrossings #P22 #rooseveltelk #bananaslugs

Had a fabulous Saturday a couple of weeks ago at the 9th Annual P-22 Day Festival, celebrating LA’s favorite feline @P22mountainlion. 😻 I got some personal time with the remarkably nimble P-22 puppet, and enjoyed my slinky, scaly neighbors 🐍 while signing books and helping folks populate the Crossings poster with their favorite critters. Seeing WILDLIFE CROSSINGS OF HOPE in the @nationalwildlife merch tent was beyond thrilling. 📚 One other highlight: hanging out with my Books for a Better Earth series buddy @katemcmillanart! Her recently released SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURES: 15 ECO-CONSCIOUS BUILDINGS AROUND THE WORLD continues to inspire and delight me. 🏘️ As always, thank you to @alexeybonca for photos and excellent company. ♥️ #savelacougars #P22day #urbanwildlifeweek #wallisannenbergwildlifecrossing #stembooksfor kids #holidayhousebks #booksforabetterearth #sustainablearchitecture

I love seeing my book here at The Huntington Store, one of my favorite haunts when I visit @thehuntingtonlibrary. 💚 Wow. And check out the spooktacular Halloween display 🎃 👻 and lovely bookmark. #huntingtonlibraryandgardens #thehuntingstore #holidayhousebooks #naturebooksforkids #wildlifebridges

In the heart of coast redwood country, just down the road from Cal Poly Humboldt, you’ll find your new favorite bookstore: @northtownbooks in Arcata, California, where great bakeries, fog-infused foliage and a timeless hippy vibe reign supreme. 💚 🌿 I’ll be talking about wildlife crossings and dam removal, especially the historic Undam the Klamath movement that’s revitalizing forests, salmon, the lives of the Yurok people, and of course the river itself. See you on October 26 at 3:00, I hope! 🐟 🦉🌲 📚 #undamtheklamath #coastredwoods #wildlifecrossings #northtownbooks #kidsnaturebooks #humboldtcounty #middleschoolbooks #stembooks

Come celebrate the life and legacy of beloved Hollywood mountain lion P-22 at the 9th annual P-22 Day Festival on Saturday October 19, 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the big cat’s former stomping/hunting grounds: Griffith Park! 😻 You’ll enjoy music, food, family-friendly nature-focused activities, and lots of local and regional environmental groups that can teach you about urban wildlife. The movers and shakers behind the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will be there as well. And I’ll have a booth—please stop by to chat! #urbanwildlife #wallisannenbergwildlifecrossing #P22 #LAnature #savecougars #nationalwildlifefederation

As you can see, @village_books, in Bellingham’s historic Fairhaven district, is pure charm. Thanks to all who attended the WILDLIFE CROSSINGS OF HOPE event, and to Anne and Sophie who coordinated everything so beautifully. I did, sadly, scare off one family with my perhaps too gruesome talk of roadkill early in the presentation. 😿 It was great to meet local children’s book author Carol Reed-Jones (I highly recommend SALMON STREAM and THE TREE IN THE ANCIENT FOREST, both released by Dawn Publications). Having my Washington family there was beyond wonderful: my Aunt Mary and Uncle Don, and my other favorite couple, cousin @standlee62 and his husband @davidrekow. Brent was the wildlife bridge poster wrangler (turtles! pollywogs! a marten!) and photographer extraordinaire. 📸 standlee62 #villagebooks #bellinghamwashington #naturebooks #wildlifecrossings #stembooksforkids #bookstagram #bookstorecats #enjoyfairhaven

Bellingham is green in every way. 💚💚🌿🌿🐿️🦌🦨🐾🐻 #wildlifecorridors #bellinghamwashington

A huge thanks to all who showed up at the fabulous @chaucersbooks on a cozy cloudy day this last weekend to talk about fragmented landscapes and how road ecologists, environmental advocates, and wildlife biologists are helping the wild creatures we love find safe passage, and each other. Special thanks to Chaucer’s own Michael Takeuchi; my dear friend Nick Welsh, the Angry Poodle of the renowned @sbindependent; and my sons @nabonca and @alexeybonca, who may at this point have heard enough about roadkill and crossing structures! Thanks, too, to my pals @_danamarin_ and @raejannel, who took photos and helped coordinate the Building Bridges poster. Small critters like gopher snakes, bunnies, turtles, and California newts populated the poster this time round—wildlife crossings aren’t, after all, just for showy megafauna. 🐍 🐢 🐰 Special co-presenter @rebeccagaal of @sbwildlifecarenetwork offered wisdom, great energy, and tales of her hands-on experience rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing wild creatures who have suffered the shocks (e.g., oil slicks, rodenticide, roadways) of a human-dominated world. Thank you, Becky! Of course, my P-22 plushie made an appearance. 💚 🐱 📚 📸@alexeybonca 📸 @raejannel #santabarbara #roadecology #middlegradestembooks #holidayhousebks #independentbookstores #wildliferescue #P-22 #wildlifecrossings

A harbor town on a western bay, as the song says, charming Bellingham, Washington may not be home to the fine girl Brandy, but it has much to offer nonetheless, including the bucolic campus of Western Washington University, the nearby Cascade Mountains, great eateries, and a fantastic bookstore, Village Books and Paper Dreams, where I’ll be talking about ecological connectivity and signing copies of WILDLIFE CROSSINGS OF HOPE on Sunday, September 22, 3:00 p.m. 📚 Please go to the @village_books website to register. #holidayhousebks #wildlifecrossings #kidsbookstagram #bellinghamwashington #stembooks

Benjamin’s Book Picks: Today’s installment brings you Sustainable Structures: 15 Eco-Conscious Buildings Around the World, written and illustrated by the creative powerhouse @katemcmillanart. 🛖 🏠 🏤 Part of Holiday House’s wonderful Books for a Better Earth series, Kate’s book—out today!— takes you to Japan, Norway, Chile, and many other locales, where you’ll learn about, for example, biomimicry, passive design, and collective housing. Benjamin is not so sure about something called “amphibious architecture,” which allows a building to float with rising waters. 🐸 🙀 Otherwise, a big paws-up for this terrific book! 😻 #holidayhousebks #stembooks #kidsbookstagram #greenarchitecture