Chapter 5: A secret about bread; the story of Bundt the baker In the middle of the Cranberry Village, there is a tiny, barely noticeable shack that sits by the street in the middle of a long row of shops. And hanging over the door is a crooked sign on which, if you look closely enough, you can barely make out the words “Bundt’s Bakery.” For Bundt the groundhog is far too busy making the best bread in the country to worry about making the outside of his shop fancy. He doesn’t

©2025 by Daniel Venturo It was a nice evening on the Oregon coast, and we had decided to take a tide pooling excursion before cleaning up and having dinner. We climbed through the rocks and started finding things—mammoth green anemones, orange and purple starfish, and spiny sea urchins. We called each other over to see tubeworms , new kinds of starfish, or strange gelatinous blobs. Then, as we peered under a large boulder, we saw a lemon! As we gathered around to examine the

Chapter 4: The secret to courage; the story of Fenton Frog Fenton Frog is a mailman – or a mail-frog I should say. His job every day is...

Dense forest thins. Views of jagged peaks become unobstructed. A glassy lake appears over a rise, reflecting each patch of snow that...

Chapter 3: The fisherman's secret; the story of Paul the mole There is a pond on the Cranberry Island. It is in a remote, quiet place...

High in the mountains, hidden in small pockets and nooks in the rocks and grass, there are puddles of water. At first glance, these...

Chapter 2: The most important thing; the story of Whisk the squirrel In the little village of Cranberry by the sparkling Cranberry bog,...

In the dark of night, in the cold of a deep pool in a rushing stream, a mayfly is hatching. This mayfly does not look like a typical fly....

Chapter 1: The Cranberry Island; the story of how things began The Cranberry Island, as it is called, is not really an island. There is...

©2025 by Daniel Venturo Iridescent green and blue. White wing patches. An extremely long tail. He flies through the grasslands, on his...

Great Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle Fascinating, strange, exotic bugs. Australian deserts are alive with them. Amazon jungles crawl with them....

Want to Listen? In the silence of the night, a lone coyote prowled. Overhead, a full moon cast its silver light. It gleamed off the quivering aspen leaves and created shifting shadows on the forest floor as it sifted through the spruce boughs. The silence was eerie, broken only by the stirrings of a mink in the leaves or the soft murmur of an owl in the trees. Quickly and quietly the coyote moved, her quavering nose close to the earth as she searched for promising smells. At

Want to Listen? He was the most unlikely individual for the mission. He was young and untrained; he had never even held a sword before. He was not strong physically, and he was so soft on the inside that even seeing a wilted flower brought tears to his eyes. He was new to the kingdom too and knew little about the land or the king or the subjects. He was naïve as well, and gullible—foolishly ignorant of the enemy and his lurking traps. Indeed, there were a thousand other perso

Want to Listen? We were hiking in Black Mesa State Park, Oklahoma. The sweat poured down our faces in the harsh sun, and waves of heat rose from the surrounding desert-lands. Then, suddenly, we spotted him. A flaming blue-orange speck moving speedily through the grass and dirt. What is he? He is a Festive Tiger Beetle. The Festive Tiger Beetle is a brightly colored beetle which lives east of the Rockies. It ranges in size from 11-14 millimeters. These beetles are diurnal and

Want to Watch? ©2025 by Jenny, Paul, Joe, Joshua, and Caleb Venturo Darting here and there, up the current, down it, between the rocks, through the water—he tries to dodge my attempts to view his bright colors. A minnow—keeping ever on the bottom—bright stripes, large fins—he is a darter. A rainbow darter—his name betrays his habits and looks. And it was in the Current River in Missouri where we found him. We just had an afternoon to wade in the river and get some fresh air b

Once upon a time, in the land of dreams, there lived two kings, King Just and King Greed. They both had beautiful land to rule, but King Just had the most beautiful land. He also had more wealth.  Now, one day, King Just invited King Greed to stay a week at his castle. The week went by quickly, for King Greed enjoyed seeing all the wonderful things King Just had. Before leaving, King Greed went through a closet when no one else was around. King Greed saw a beautiful crown of

Want to Listen? It was a beautiful day on the Emerald Coast, Florida. It was a tad rough and a bit more turbid than usual, which was perfect for fishing. As I sat in the warm sun watching my rod, I decided some swimming would not be amiss, so I hopped in. I could still see my rod, and I couldn’t resist the clear, cool water. After a little swimming and still no fishing action, I did some skimboarding, with frequent glances over at my rod. Still no action. We ate lunch. No act

Want to Listen? There was once a country called Shadow Hills where many different people lived. Now you may think that Shadow Hills was a horrible place to live. The name makes it sound like a dark place where there is no sunshine. But it actually wasn’t a bad place to be. In fact, the people who lived there loved it. Despite it’s name, Shadow Hills wasn’t dark all the time—there was night and day just like we have, and Shadow Hills had a sun. There were two reasons, then, wh

Want to Listen? America’s Florida Keys are home to a wide range of animals. The Keys are located off the Southernmost tip of Florida, making them subtropical. Among many other species are Florida Horse Conchs, Portuguese Man-of-Wars, and iguanas. A Live Florida Horse Conch Florida Horse Conchs are common mollusks in the waters around the Keys. A mollusk has a slimy, soft body and a hard shell. Florida Horse Conchs are large shells—24 inches—and are carnivores. They have an op

Want to Listen? Once upon a time, there were two small hermit crabs who lived on a tropical island in the middle of the ocean. Their names were Mertz and Ninnis. Now you may think these were funny names, but these names fit the crabs well. In case you didn’t know, there were two men who lived during the early 1900s whose names were Mertz and Ninnis. These two men were explorers in Antarctica. The reason the names Mertz and Ninnis were fitting for these crabs was because these

©2025 by Jenny Venturo Want to Listen? You may think that monkeys are a far away, tropical animal that you’ll never be able to see except at a zoo. But what many of us don’t realize is that there are moneys right under our noses in Florida.   The sun was shining as we paddled down the Silver River in central Florida. There were anhingas and herons all along the banks, and the occasional alligator sunned itself on a log. We had brought our goggles so that we could peer into th

Want to Listen? Long, long ago, at the very beginning of time, two people, a man and a woman, the first that God ever created, took a bite of forbidden fruit . . . and with that one bite, changed the course of history. Things had been so wonderful, so perfect. The man and the woman had lived in a beautiful world where there were no such things as pain or tears or fights. There was no sorrow. There was no death. And best of all, these two people were friends with God. They liv

Want to Listen? Tides. They suck water out to the deep, out of sounds, and through inlets; they expose the rocks encrusted with life; they surge back up over land. All this pulling, surging, moving of tons of water, is controlled by the moon, which is controlled by God. It is He Who keeps life going—and we get to study how He decided to do it!   Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon (gravity is what pulls a book onto the floor when you drop it). The earth has

Want to Listen? Once, there were two kings and two kingdoms. The first king was good. His kingdom was good too; his people loved him, and he loved his people. The other king was not good. His kingdom was full of darkness and evil. He hated goodness and light, and so he hated the good king and his kingdom. This king wanted to conquer the good kingdom. He wanted to make it as dark and evil as his own so that he could be the king of both kingdoms. The evil king had a huge army.

Want to Listen? While staying at Schoodic Peninsula in Acadia National Park, Maine, we saw quite a few animals. Keep reading to learn about some of them. Pollock are a cod species that live in the waters off of New England. Pollock live in schools over rocks and sometimes feed at the surface. A pollock’s diet consists of fish, especially sand eels. We discovered this when we were fishing from the rocks at Schoodic. Hundreds of pollock were involved in a huge feeding frenzy, t

This is a sextant, a tool used for navigation Crash! Another monster wave loomed towering over the boat, then hurtled down and swept over it, engulfing it in ice cold seawater. Then another rose up under it, lifting it high into the black sky and flinging it down again into the depths below, where it was only buffeted again from the side by yet another furious wave. The year was 1916. The tiny boat and the 5 men on board were in the most treacherous waters in all the world—Dr

©2025 by Joshua Venturo “There’s a Daddy-long-legs eating my pepperoni!” That’s what Caleb said as we sat by the Glen Ellis river in New Hampshire, eating our dinner of “pizza rice.” Caleb quickly snatched his pepperoni away from this lanky thief. As he said, “I want my pepperoni.” The Eastern Daddy-long-legs lives east of the Rocky Mountains in the US. In the evening, Daddy-long-legs will climb up trees in search of extra heat from the sun. They can be found clustered togeth

Wolves, lions, bears, sharks—these are all ferocious predators that hunt down prey. With their strong jaws and sharp claws, they are experts at catching other animals for food. You probably know about a lot of predators. If you have read some of our previous posts, you will know that the Northern Pike  is a fish that is a nasty predator. You also learned that the ichneumon wasp  is a fascinating creature that preys on insects and spiders. Can you think of any other predators?

Which fish has huge scales, can survive in polluted water, and eats berries? Which fish grows to 100 pounds and lives across the country? You’re about to find out. While we were in New York, on Lake Ontario, Daniel caught a carp with his hands. We think something was wrong with him, because he did not speed away like most carp. We were excited to have caught him with our hands! Carp are large fish that are native to Europe and Asia but were introduced to the US. There are 3 m

A small amphibian steps onto a bright green leaf. His gray body stands out against the green. A perfect target for predators. Very slowly, the gray fades out and is replaced with brownish, and then dark green. When the change is complete, he is very hard to spot on the leaf. He is green. What is this small amphibian? Treefrogs live in the eastern United States. The Common Gray Treefrog lives throughout the East, but the Green Treefrog can only be seen south of Pennsylvania. T

At first glance, it might look like a huge stinger that would make a big welt on your skin. But you don’t have to worry about this thing stinging you. Or do you? . . .   The ichneumon wasp is a large wasp that lives worldwide. There are many different species of ichneumon wasp, but one species, the Giant Ichneumon grows to 3 inches long, plus a 4 3/8-inch ovipositor. Most ichneumons do not sting, but some are able to inject venom through their ovipositor! The Giant Ichneumon

All night long, the storm raged. Wind howled in the treetops. It whipped over the water of the lake, ruffling it into turmoil. It ripped the leaves off the trees and scattered them everywhere. It tore tree branches loose and flung them onto the ground. Throughout all this uproar, two little baby squirrels were huddled high up in a hole in an enormous tree. With each blast of wind, the great tree shuddered, and the two frightened squirrels cowered and cuddled up closer to each

He hasn’t eaten for a while now and he’s hungry. He is lurking around in the rocks, deep down in the water, looking for prey. Suddenly, a flash off to his side catches his notice. A shiner is struggling through the water—a perfect target. One powerful thrust of his tail and the shiner is in his mouth, down his throat . . . Wait a minute. Something is different about this shiner. He feels a sharp pang in his mouth—something is pulling him towards shore. He struggles and wriggl

He runs about on talus fields all summer with bundles of small plants in his mouth. He spreads the plants in the sun to dry and brings them down in his hole when it rains. By the end of summer, he has a small haystack on the mountain where he lives. Do you know what he is yet? . . . He is a pika!   Pikas are small, brown mammals that live high on the mountains of Colorado. They are herbivores, which means they eat plants. Pikas grow to 8 ½ inches, but most are about 6 inches.

In an open sunny meadow in Colorado there was a prairie dog town. All over the grassy field were dotted little mounds of dirt, and on each mound there was a little opening. Each of these openings was the front door to some little prairie dog’s house. Thousands of prairie dogs lived in the town. They all led busy lives of work and play, working together to gather food, clean their burrows, and always to keep an eye on the sky in case there should be a cruel hawk flying overhea

While we were fishing a lake in Colorado, we saw a large lake trout. We wanted to catch one, but we didn’t have the right gear to get deep enough. Maybe someday we will catch a lake trout!   The lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush , is native to Canada, Alaska, and the northern parts of North America. The lake trout is the largest species of char, growing to 102 pounds (46 kg.) and 24-36 inches. There are three subspecies of lake trout: the common lake trout, the siscowet lake t

When we were hiking high on Mt. Elbert in Colorado, we saw lots of ptarmigans. They were so white we could hardly see them against the snow. They waited until we came very close before thundering off to another place. We think they were White-tailed Ptarmigans!   The White-tailed Ptarmigan is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It lives above tree line in Canada, Alaska, and the Western US. Ptarmigans grow to 12.2 inches and weigh about 16.9 ounces. In summer, ptarmigans

Whisk is a squirrel. His house is a hollow tree in a quiet pine forest. Like most squirrels, Whisk is usually busy gathering nuts and storing them up for the winter. But even though Whisk is so busy, he still has time for play once in a while. Most of the time, Whisk plays by himself. But one day, he met another squirrel, who was very friendly and just as playful as Whisk. This squirrel’s name was Batter. Whisk and Batter played together for a whole afternoon. They had so muc

Photo by Jenny Venturo In Westcliffe, Colorado, we saw a few horned lizards. They were slow and easy to catch. We looked at them closely, but we still don’t know what species they were. They could have been Texas Horned Lizards, San Luis Valley Horned Lizards, or some other kind of short horned lizard. We do know that they were in Genus Phrynosomatidae , which means “toad-bodied.”   Horned lizards are also called horned toads. The horns on the lizard’s head are the only true

Drawing by Daniel Venturo In my last post, I told you the story of Crank-bait and Curly-tail, two chipmunk brothers who found a deadly snake right in the middle of a chipmunk highway! These two chipmunks realized how important it was for them to warn other chipmunks of this danger, so that no little chipmunk would be eaten! I told you that, just as it was important for Crank-bait and Curly-tail to warn chipmunks about the snake in the path, it is also important for those of u

While we were near Grape Creek in Colorado, we had a chance to fish for brook trout. We brought our fly rods down to the creek and cast out our flies. At first, we didn’t catch anything, but soon I got a 9-inch brook trout! Several other people got some too.   The brook trout is a type of char native to the Appalachian Mountains and the Great Lakes. Several populations are found in the Rocky Mountains too. Brook trout grow to 28 inches and weigh up to 14 ½ pounds. They are mo

All throughout the Rocky Mountains, we were looking for bighorn sheep. We saw several signs saying “ Watch for Bighorn Sheep,” but still, we did not see one. Then, one day, we were driving high in the mountains through Monarch Pass. Right next to the road was a herd of bighorns! Only, these bighorns did not have big horns! They only had small nubs. So we kept looking . . . In Glacier National Park, we saw some better bighorns. They had big, curling horns and were climbing on

The Wichita Mountains were full of cracks and crannies that were perfect for collared lizards. Our mission that week was to catch one. One day we set off up a small, round mountain to look for some lizards. We scoured the rocks on all sides, hoping one would scurry out. Then, finally, we found one! right under a small rock was a large collared lizard! Suddenly, it darted out and ran up the slope. We stumbled and ran after it, trying to grasp it, but it just darted under anoth

The adult antlion looks like a damselfly, and grows to about 1 ¾ (45 mm.) inches. As an adult, it eats nectar and pollen, but it is named after the carnivorous habits of the larvae. Once the larva hatches, it digs a small pit, about 1 inch across, and waits for an ant or other small insect to fall down the sloping sides. Then, it grabs the insect with its jaws and pulls it under the sand. Next time you are out in a sandy place, look for small pits in the sand. Sometimes the a

There once were two little chipmunk brothers named Crank-bait and Curly-tail. They lived in a cozy hollow log in a quiet spruce forest. Their beds were made of soft, springy moss, and their door was a large, rough piece of pine bark. Every day, when the weather was nice and the sun was bright, these two chipmunks were outside scurrying through the leaves. Sometimes they were playing games like Tag or Hide-and-Seek, and sometimes they were looking for juicy nuts to eat.  But C

The collared peccary is a pig-like mammal that lives in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. It grows to 40 in. and weighs up to 65 lbs. Peccaries run at up to 25 mph but will defend themselves with their tusks if you corner them. A peccary’s diet includes plants, invertebrates, frogs, lizards, mice, birds, and snakes. Peccaries can usually be found in rocky canyons, brushy deserts, and wastelands. They travel in herds of 6-30 animals. When we were in Big Bend, Texas, we saw a lot

Is there anything so brilliant as the sun? Every night, just as everything seems darkest, a hint of light begins to glow at the horizon. As the minutes go by, the light gets stronger and stronger until suddenly, a glowing orange sliver peeks over the edge of the earth. The sliver grows and grows and all of a sudden, a great golden ball appears majestic in the sky, flinging its light and warmth into every corner of the dark waiting world. All over, people and animals begin to

©2025 by Jenny Venturo Many fascinating creatures live on the rocky shores and in the mighty waters of the Pacific Ocean. Here, the whales spout, the kelp beds gently wave, and the sea otters play among it all. In every crack and crevice of the rocks, there are hundreds of tiny animals, living. There are purple starfish, green sea anemones, and tiny fish called sculpin. There are tiny hermit crabs and limpets. Every day the ocean tides cycle in and out. When the tide is low,

Deep within the foggy rainforest, underneath a mossy log, there lived a newt. He was brown on top and yellowish below and had a good, honest face. The rainforest where he lived was, as the name suggested, nearly always wet and muddy since it rained a lot. But the newt did not mind this. Actually, he liked it. He made his way delicately through the soggy leaves carrying a large black umbrella and wearing a big floppy leaf for a hat. The newt’s bed was a big, fluffy mound of mo

Once upon a time, there lived a marmot. A marmot is a large type of rodent that lives high up in the mountains. This marmot had a very cozy home under a rock. The top of this rock was his porch, and every morning he sat there and had breakfast while he watched the sun come up over the snowy peaks where he lived. Sometimes, he liked sitting there, all by himself, watching the sunrise. But sometimes, he felt lonely. One day, he felt especially lonely. This was because today was