THE MIGHTY POLLINATORS

Collaborators Frost and Lieder reunite for the seventh book in a series based on keenly observed animal life.

Frost’s introductory poem, “Almost Invisible,” describes fine, powdery pollen waiting “for the only thing it needs— / a ride on the wind / or on wing, / fur, / or feather.” Its concluding metaphor hails the parade of pollinators to come and their significance for life on Earth: “small and mighty, / holding the world together.” The occasionally rhyming verses present eight species whose activities function to move pollen from the flower’s anther to its reproductive parts. Fittingly, Lieder’s ever marvelous photographs cycle from morning to night, while Frost begins with bees, ants, wasps, and flies and ends with bats and fireflies. Two strong poems contrast the “dawn to dusk…realm of the butterfly” with the nighttime domain of moths, whose antennae, “like feather dusters, / sweep pollen from the flowers. / We carry it over the sleeping world— / dusk to dawn is ours.” The collection’s last poem lauds the role of “pollen’s good friend,” the wind. In addition to Lieder’s macro images—extreme close-ups with ethereally blurred backgrounds—small insets, shaped hexagonally like honeycomb cells, provide additional insect-eye views. Backmatter provides creatures’ common names. A concluding section includes information on pollination, a labeled flower diagram, and suggestions for improving pollinator habitats, such as learning about native plants and avoiding the use of garden pesticides.

A beautifully photographed, respectful tribute to pollinators.