Bonnie the Survivalist

Bonnie is a tried-and-true survivalist. She has survivalist hats and survivalist shorts; survivalist vests and survivalist boots. She even has survivalist shoelaces!

Another time Bonnie put bandages on her friends. “A bandage for you, Dahlia the daddy longlegs; a bandage for you, Wilson the wren; and a bandage for you, Riley the raccoon.” Afterwards her friends exclaimed, “But none of us have any wounds!”

Bonnie also learned how to tie different kinds of knots. She decided to use her knowledge to build a raft of planks and rope. That way she and her friends could float across the water! “But Bonnie,” said her friends, “there aren’t any lakes or rivers around here!”

Once Bonnie even decided to make all their meals out of unpleasant-looking plants she had found in the woods. “But Bonnie,” cried her friends, “there’s plenty of food in the kitchen!”


Bonnie and her friends rushed over to where they heard Riley calling out. In front of them was a big hole where a giant tree once stood. “I’m down here!” Riley shouted. Each of his friends peered into the hole.

How Gozzles Are Made

Gozzles are made at the Magnificently Outrageously Too-Big Toy Factory. 

Gozzles are toys that go like this: ziggle zaggle bleep bloop POP!

Gozzles are assembled in countless roundabout steps. In the first step, gozzle-parts are sent through a lot of different tubes, funnels, and slides. It takes a LONG time for gozzle-parts to get where they need to go!

A while later, in the fifth step, gozzle-parts and gozzle-making tools are closely inspected under magnifying lenses. These lenses are in the room called “The Too Many Magnifying Lenses Room.” In this room, there are a LOT of lenses! Hey, what’s that mouse doing there…?! (Some say it’s really the mice who keep the factory running smoothly…)

A long time later, in the twenty-fourth step, Bizzle and Grif fix all the gozzle-parts that need repairing. Bizzle and Grif are robots who love working together on gozzles. They’ve seen lots of gozzles in their day. They make each gozzle work perfectly!

Much much later, in the one hundred sixty-eighth step, chipper bots called Loomy-gins zip around with different gozzle-parts. Together, Loomy-gins build the insides of gozzles. Building the inside of a gozzle takes a LOT of Loomy-gin know-how! (Look, there’s another mouse scurrying around!)

Then, WAY later, in the three thousand ninety-seventh step, gozzles zip along a track called “The Too-Much-Paint Track.” Here gozzles are painted in every conceivable color. Gozzles have LOTS of paint on them! Now I wonder how many steps there are altogether?... …And what happens in the other steps?...

Tina the Tarantula Searches for a Home

It was that time in Tina the tarantula's life in which she was to find a home of her own. So off she went across the vast desert landscape. 

[sketch] But finding a home was difficult. Many places were already inhabited. And it was so hard to dig in the desert ground! Fortunately, Tina saw some of her friends along the way. She asked them their advice.

The first friend Tina encountered was Viola the vulture. Viola was taking a walk with her vulture chicks. “Viola,” said Tina, “do you know where to build a good home?”

[sketch] “Well,” said Viola as she imagined a wonderful spot, “the best place to build a home is high up in a tree, away from things that might disturb your nest.” “Thank you, Viola!” said Tina gratefully. But then Tina realized that without any wings, a tree would be too high for her to build a home.

So she continued on her journey, determined to find a good place. Soon she came across her friend Javier the Gila monster. “Javier!” Tina cried, “do you know where to build a good home?”

[sketch] Javier thought a moment and, imagining the perfect spot, said, “The best place to build a home is in a large hole beneath a rock, where you’re protected from the desert heat.” “Thank you, Javier!” said Tina happily. But then Tina realized that without large claws, it would be impossible to dig such a big hole.

So she started out once more in search of a home, certain she would find a good spot. Suddenly she ran into her friend Sheila the shrew. “Sheila!” Tina exclaimed, “do you know where to build a good home?”

[sketch] Sheila scratched her chin and said, “The best place for a home is in an old agave plant, where you can build a snuggly nest of leaves.” “Thank you!” said Tina excitedly. But then Tina realized that without any fur, an agave plant would not provide enough protection from the sun.

So she began once again to search for a home, becoming ever more anxious. Then she saw her friend Ray the roadrunner. “Ray!” shouted Tina, “do you know where to build a good home?”

[sketch] “Ahem,” said Ray, clearing his throat, “the best place to build a home is in a prickly pear cactus, where other critters won’t want to disturb your nest.” “Wonderful!” said Tina hopefully. But then Tina realized that without sharp talons, she wouldn’t be comfortable sitting in a spiny cactus.

[sketch] So Tina set out once more in search of a home, wondering if she would ever find one. She got very tired walking from place to place, from cactuses to wildflowers, plump plants to pointy plants, big rocks to little rocks. 

[sketch] But then, at last, as she searched around a boulder she discovered a shallow hole. She dipped her head in to see if it was empty… and it was!

[sketch] What’s more, she found that the ground in the hole was soft enough to dig! “What a perfect spot to build a home!” thought Tina excitedly. Quickly she began scratching away at the dirt. She dug and dug, feeling happy. Then, suddenly, she saw something shiny buried in the ground…

[sketch] …a geode! Excitedly, Tina dug faster until she uncovered the gleaming rock. As she pulled it out, it shimmered and sparkled and became her favorite thing in the world.

Assorted illustrations

Honey bear loves honey

Milo the mountain goat was uncertain whether he could climb the steep rocks

Gordon the grasshopper and Christy the cricket are very best friends. They jump and sing all over the Winchell family's backyard!

Old Mr. Grumbler lives deep in the woods among the Odd-Colored Trees of Nowhere Forest...

Riley the raccoon sleeps all afternoon

Sally the salamander scouts for flies

The nutty squirrel

Bluebird series

Bellow the bluebird sits high up on a branch...

...in the twisted limbs of the Tartoongle Tree.

He swoops and swirls around the tree and calls out, "Tweep tweep!"

Then Bellow grows very sleepy...

...and he yawns and stretches and shakes his little feet...

...and climbs ever so comfortably back into his twiggy nest to sleep. 

Science illustrations (pea aphid, aphid mummies, and parasitoid)