The Mighty Pollinators, written by Helen Frost with photographs by Rick Lieder. Candlewick Press, Penguin Random House. 2024. $24.99 ages

 

"Solitary sweat bees, 
no-bigger-than-an-aunt bees. 

We're on the front lines, 
keeping fruit and flowers 
      alive."

This is the seventh book in a series created by poet Helen Frost and nature photographer Rick Lieder; each is as wondrous as the last one. To say they are keen observers of animals in nature would be a major understatement. They are brilliant at capturing those creatures as the stars of each new book. 

Mr. Lieder grabs the reader's attention with the cover photo and once the cover is opened. The glorious endpaper there shows tiny pollen particles attached to the legs and body of our first pollinator at work. The title page offers four additional clear and close-up photographs of four others. From early morning light until bats, moths and fireflies appear at dusk, the work goes on. 

Ms. Frost's poetic introduction to this collection of poems and pictures encourages readers to take notice of their surroundings whenever they are outside on a warm summer day. 

"It's pollen in the air,  
pollen in the flowers, 
pollen helping plants make seeds. 
Almost invisible, pollen waits 
for the only thing it needs - 
      a ride on the wind
           or on a wing,
                   fur, 
                          or feather. 

Here come the pollinators, 
small and mighty, 
holding the world together."

For those who are don't realize the importance of the work these tiny creatures do, this is a perfect starting point for learning something new. Bees are first up; followed by ants, wasps. flies, butterflies, moths, bats, and fireflies. So much is going on around us that we don't stop to consider. Without these pollinators, our world would be in extreme distress - even beyond what we are presently facing. 

Fittingly, the author ends with the wind, a good friend of pollen. 

Back matter describes pollen, pollination, observation of pollinators and advice for helping them by planting attractive gardens and avoiding the use of pesticides. Finally, we learn that Rick Lieder photographed each pollinator near his Michigan home. Then, each is named in a detailed list that gives a name to the photos from first to last image.