On May 22nd 2024, McGill’s Le James bookstore hosted the book launch for A Portrait of Astonishing Nature, a Friesen Press publication released in early April. Guests headed to the lower level of the store, where the author waited excitedly to welcome them and share his innovative project. All around him, copies of his books laid open and revealed vibrant watercolour paintings matched with haiku: the blue and green head of a duck, the beaver—“nature’s engineer”—paddling across a lake, the pine tree swaying to the right.
Buddle created A Portrait of Astonishing Nature in collaboration with the Creek 53 Conservancy Trust, an organization which aims to preserve the wild lands and gets its name from the area known as Creek 53. Located in Hudson, Québec, Creek 53 is a diverse section of land with forests, meadows, and ponds, all home to a wide variety of wildlife. Buddle is one of the Trustees of the organization, as a resident of the town and an avid naturophile. All proceeds from the book go to the conservancy trust, which supports research, educational outreach, and volunteer work. With projects such as the Community Stewardship Program, the Trust aims to build a community dedicated to wildlife preservation in and around Hudson.
Buddle took on this project with the goal of helping others fall in love with nature as he has, by simply observing the variety of life surrounding him. In portraying the animals from his locale, Buddle seeks to encourage readers to connect with the natural world they inhabit. He explains that the premise he kept in mind while he wrote and illustrated the book was “If you can fall in love with nature, you can help save it.”
The haiku form, Buddle acknowledges, does not encapsulate everything readers want to know about the species it presents. The form of these simple poems draws upon a tradition of communion with the natural world. While three lines cannot encapsulate all that is interesting about the biodiversity of the area, they are enough to put the reader in conversation with the firefly on the hunt or the howling wolf. Buddle’s haiku respect the ineffable mystery of the species in Creek 53, pique the curiosity of its readers, and send them off on a mission to learn more. Haiku form also invites simple vocabulary and pleasing imagery, a pleasant welcome into natural history for the novice reader. Buddle also provides a collection of natural history notes at the end of his book, offering further information about the selection of species.
For more information on A Portrait of Astonishing Nature and Creek 53, be sure to check out this link or pick up your copy at Le James!
Gaëlle Perron, 2025