Red Oaks Nature Center Storybook Trail

About the Program

Category: Parks and Recreation (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Visitors on the trail through Friendship Woods at Oakland County Parks and Recreation’s (OCPR) Red Oaks Nature Center can now play a game of hide and seek with Mother Nature as they learn how many insects disguise themselves to avoid predators.Ruth Heller’s children’s book, How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects, has become part of the newly created Storybook Trail. The pages of the book are displayed along the trail giving readers clues to what to look for to find a hidden insect. Using repurposed wood from fallen trees within the county parks, staff constructed 17 posts with a wooden book cradling two vibrant pages on them. The creative idea blends the instillation on the trail without looking invasive to the natural beauty.The project was funded by a $3,000 Healthy Recreation Catalyst Award from Michigan Recreation and Park Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. With leftover funds from a nature center renovation project and grant money, a second book for the trail – The Mitten by Jan Brett, a Ukrainian folktale about a lost mitten and the animals that make it their home - will follow.