The creative team of author and poet Susan Schadler and artists Lynne and John M.T. Seitzer recently released “Growing Wild: Four seasons of New England and Native Plants and Their Creatures.” Lynne and John’s artwork and Susan’s accompanying poetry make this book both an enchanting and informative read.

This is their second collaboration. You may remember their first endeavor, “come walk in the FYNBOS with me,” printed in 2018, took readers to Africa’s southern tip, the 500-mile stretch known as the fynbos.

Said Susan, “It has a globally unique and exceptionally diverse flora that enthralled me. The thought that my future grandchildren (at the time), would probably never get to experience this extraordinary place gave me the idea to take them on an adventurous walk through this floral magnificence, called the fynbos, meaning fine bush in Afrikaans, in a picture book.”

Once Susan and the Seitzers returned from that journey, Susan went home to Massachusetts and the Seitzers to their home and gallery, Joy to the Wind. But Susan was missing the fynbos something fierce, which led her to thinking about the native plants of New England. As most of us are aware, bringing these plants back has been a slow, process in large part due to the number of invasive species that are taking over from forests to back yards. And we can’t forget climate change. But I digress.

Susan discovered the National Plant Trust (NPT) in her backyard, so to speak, and its naturalistic botanical garden, The Garden in the Woods, in Framingham. She brought a copy of the fynbos book to the NPT bookshop where it received rave reviews – and something more.

“They loved it and challenged me to write such a children’s picture book focused on their botanical garden. It is a highly uncommon, utterly beautiful and supremely serene 45 acres showcasing in a very low-key way some 1,000 species of Northeast native plants.”

Susan accepted the challenge and proposed another collaboration to John and Lynne.

“When we first started talking about it, we were all pretty excited about doing something about native plants because obviously it's the way to go,” Lynne said. “So the focus here, first of all, was the idea of going through the four seasons, and because there's so many enthusiastic people who want to plant native plants.”

The book's mission statement: We (are) committed to give very young children a sensual glimpse of the crazy rich personalities of Northeastern native plants and the quirky ecosystem of creatures that support and are supported by them.

“Kids, after all, grow up, and the future of our distinctive flora depends on those grown-up kids planting our natives and conserving our distinctive floral heritage,” said Susan.

The three then went to The Garden in the Woods where thousands of pictures were taken by the Seitzers – 7,000 of them! And the amazing part: They narrowed it down to the 20 in the book. Some of those images are of The Garden in the Woods with others taken at various New England locations where native plants grow.

All three agreed the book should include animals, insects, turtles, frogs, beetles, hummingbird moths, butterflies and bees that survive because of native flora. After visiting The Garden in The Woods and other locations, the images Lynne and John chose to paint were skunk cabbage, trillium, columbine (yellow and orange), sundial lupine, prickly pear, black cohash , blueberries, bee balm, doll’s eyes, milkweed, white pine trees and – as autumn nears – asters, goldenrod, autumn leaves and winterberry.

Do they believe they really told the story about the important role of native plants? "I think we did," Lynne said. “I think we managed to highlight the different species of flora and critters." Susan honed in with 5-4-5 meter poetry as kind of an additional twist to make the book more fun.

OK, it’s been a while since I was in an English class, so I looked up this 5-4-5 meter poetry: Each stanza follows a strict syllable or stress pattern of 5, 4 and 5 across three lines and the writer can use syllable-counting (syllabic verse) and/or beat-counting styles.

As I read through the book, admiring the poetry and photos, Lynne turned my attention to the doll’s eyes during our interview. She described them as creepy. And, that is certainly accurate, but I would add haunting to her description. And, no, we’re not talking creepy like the haunted Annabelle doll from the early 20th century. More like the dolls and eyes I saw (and, shudder, probably saw me) of the 1890s-early 19th century that a co-worker of mine from decades ago adorned her home with. They were on shelves in every room of her house. (Insert shudder here.)

But, I digress, again. Anyway, the doll’s eyes in Lynne’s painting are, well, eye-catching and not necessarily in a charming way. Their small, round shape is accented with a single black dot in the center and they are highly toxic. I’ve looked at them several times (as Susan was kind enough to gift me with a copy), and I gotta tell ya, they do border on the creepy side of flora.

Susan’s poetry for this white baneberry: “Jeepers, creepers, Where’d you get those peepers? Come red stalks in the fall, Bearing eyes like a doll, In the woods they see all.”

Another favorite is John’s painting of black cohash. I’d never seen it, save in pill form at pharmacies and maybe Rising Tide, but the plant is lovely (unlike the pills). They remind me of a candle flame or a feather. The lower half is ever so slightly wider than the tapered and tall whispy white flower. Lynne said they were just gorgeous and danced on the breeze. John painted a group of them, their white plumes bright against the darker background of a forest.

Again, Susan’s perfect poetry: “Swirls of white fleece sway in the breeze. Are they birds? Are they sprites? Are they snakes taking flight? Cohash they are, waving soft fuzzy blooms. White candles for fairies in the green forest room.”

A humorous example of Susan’s complementing poetry is about skunk cabbage: “Melting snow brings speckled buds, Poking through the mucky mud. They give off heat that warms the bees, Who pick up pollen on their knees. All crowded in a puddly marsh, The buds call out: Come squish, squash, squarsh. Yet if you step, your boot will sink, And, like the skunk, you’re sure to stink.”

Having two daughters, I could see them having quite a giggle over that ending line. I’m sure other kids will, too.

All in all, I think the shared goal of creating a book that offers kids a different experience is quite a success. And, "Growing Wild" is a book  kids, their parents and grandparents will enjoy as well, many, many times. This combination of poetry and art? Perfection.

I have to say, and this will come at no surprise, Susan, Lynne and John have created another exceptional book. Through them, kids and adults have traveled to Africa’s fynbos filled with unusual varieties of wild flora and fauna most will never have an opportunity to visit; we may want to, but isn’t it nice to know we can take a trip there just by going to our bookcase(s). Books are like that.

And with this second collaboration, we are again treated to an informative and beautiful journey through poetry and art.

“...  We take kids through the seasons of New England’s native plants, picking up the identities of our favorite plants and creatures supported through Lynne and John’s dreamy paintings and simple rhymes capturing the character of each scene.” – Susan Schadler

Locally, you can get your own copy of this book at Sherman’s book stores, Joy to the Wind Gallery on Atlantic Avenue; on Amazon; and through Susan’s website, susanschadler.com