Furry Friends

---

Here are the anthropomorphic animals not to miss this month.

[dropcap letter=”P”]eaks Island artist Scott Kelley is known for mildly surreal watercolors of wildlife and the natural world — he’s John James Audubon with a dash of Ralph Steadman — and his first children’s book is no departure. In I Am Birch, portraits of woodland creatures in traditional Wabanaki dress accompany (and, frankly, upstage) a fable loosely adapted from a Wabanaki legend. Available now from Islandport Press. 

Kelley says he looked for inspiration to the books of late Maine children’s author Margaret Wise Brown, whose frequent collaborator is the focus of Garth Williams, Illustrator of the Century, an exhibition at Brunswick’s Curtis Memorial Library featuring some 100 original works by the late illustrator of Brown’s Little Fur Family and Mister Dog, E.B. White’s Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web, and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series, among others.

Through July 31. 23 Pleasant St., Brunswick. 207-725-5242.

See more North by East stories!