Have you ever wondered what sort of graphic novel, epic poem, and art book might be created by a couple living in the woods who spend hundreds of volunteer hours fighting a mine next door to their favorite old growth forest and freshwater sea? Well, now's your chance to find out!
 
I believe that the quest to protect and restore the majesty of Nature does not just require winning over minds, but hearts and imaginations. On this front, more arguments, charts, and studies will never suffice. That’s why the arts are a crucial part of any movement, and especially works intended for those impressionable souls who will one day make up our future: the young folks. 
 
For the past four years, my wife Sol and I have been working on a book to inspire young readers to reconnect with their outer and inner Natures. Entitled Reynard the House-Wolf, the story follows an unsuspecting suburban dog, Reynard (our actual border collie mutt), who sees a wild wolf on TV and dares to howl along. That night, the wolf visits Reynard in a dream and beckons him to seek her out. The next day he runs away to seek out the real world Nature Channel. On the way, his adventure introduces him to many creatures facing different dilemmas, from squirrels just trying to cross the road, to eagles nesting in cell towers, to seals battling plastic bags, to endangered ferrets separated by habitat fragmentation, to wolves on a mountain threatened by mining, and much more.
 
Would you believe that I wrote such a story years before Protect the Porkies and the Copperwood Mine were even concepts in my head? It’s the truth. Just goes to show how fact mirrors fiction, and vice-versa, which is why explorations of the imagination are so important! Though you wouldn’t have known it, the thoughts and feelings generated as Sol and I put together this book have inspired the campaign every step of the way. It's been part of the roots, the mycelia and microbes, invisible beneath the ground but secretly fueling the upward movement of the whole tree.
 
Reynard the House-Wolf started as a children’s book but soon became too ambitious… now it’s a 160-page graphic novel and epic poem (yes, it all rhymes), every single page of which is illustrated in color, through digital animation, water color, embroidery, collage, and more. Although we made the work with young audiences in mind — specifically, for kids who are too old for typical children’s books and are looking for something to challenge and inspire them, or for an adult to read to a younger child — we believe the work will appeal to the Inner Child in all of us and to anyone who loves a good dog odyssey or Nature-themed art book.
 
We’re self-publishing the work as a hardcover, and to fund the printing and shipping we’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign. Anyone who would like to help support this endeavor is invited to follow along here. 
 
I thought long and hard about sending this out to the Protect the Porkies crew, recognizing that it doesn't seem, on the surface, to be campaign-related, even though I personally see the imagination as the shadow-side of what goes on in "the real world." But this life is an ecosystem of relations in which we all depend on each other, the same as the reishi mushroom depends on the hemlock, the wetlands upon the beaver, and so on. Supporting this book is a great way to express appreciation for the hundreds of hours Sol and I have worked on this campaign, all without a salary — and you'll score a sweet book of art and poetry in the process!
  
The campaign will run for only 35 days (ending on Earth Day), and if we don’t reach our goal, we won’t be printing the books. Thank you for your support. We are putting this work out there not to make a profit (in fact, we’d be earning almost nothing), but to continue fighting on a deeper level on behalf of Nature, whose voice has been for too long silenced. 
 
After this, I promise we’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming :-)
 
Sincerely,

Tom, Sol, and Reynard