According to the Grimes Farm website, Leonard and Mildred Grimes purchased their farm west of Marshalltown in 1964, and in 1992, they began donating pieces of a 160-acre section of land to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. This parcel later became a conservation center in 2003 for the purpose of environmental education, among other things.

Barr has a great appreciation for Grimes Farm and wants to share it with as many people as possible, hoping that they too will enjoy its diverse landscape. This desire spurred her into writing the book. While Barr wrote “Leonard and Mildred Play Hide and Seek at Grimes Farm” herself, she said she got the idea from a similar book called “Mudgy and Millie” by Susan Nipp. “Mudgy and Millie” follows a similar story about a moose and a mouse playing hide-and-seek, but the trail they follow is through Coeur d’Alene Idaho.

With this inspiration in mind, Barr wrote her book about Leonard the white-tailed deer and Mildred the deer mouse, named after the late Leonard and Mildred Grimes. In the book, the two animals play hide-and-seek on Grimes Farm, visiting notable sites before winding up back where they started. Leonard then discovers Mildred has been hiding on his antlers all along.

This book is designed to be read while visiting the farm, as it can be used as a guide through the various points of interest. It begins in the wetlands and throughout the journey, notable spots such as Leonard’s Amphitheater and Mildred’s Tower are highlighted. In addition to the aforementioned sites, there are three more stops found in the story. If the book is followed, the hike equates to about a mile and a half.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE One of the illustrations Julie Bousum created for the book. Bousum uses paste paper collage to create unique pieces of art.

Barr’s main goal in this endeavor is to instill a genuine care and appreciation for the local environment.

“I love to be there,” Barr said. “The more you get outside and enjoy it, the more you want to take care of nature.”

Barr’s book is illustrated by Julie Bousum, a talented local artist, and she incorporated a style called paste paper collage on the project. She has been using this artistic medium since she began teaching art at Marshalltown High School, where she worked from 1994 to 2013.

When Barr asked Bousum to illustrate her book, she was intrigued. The two got together with some of Bousum’s artwork to decide what medium would be the best fit, and they settled on paste paper collage because it would show the depth of the landscapes.

“You can do things with paste papers that are difficult to do with other mediums,” Bousum said.

Paste papers are made with acrylic paint and cornstarch paste. The paint and paste are manipulated with various tools to form the various textures of the page. It makes changing something on a piece fairly simple if a modification is needed. This proved to be very helpful in the process of illustrating the book, as their ideas were ever evolving.

Bousum was satisfied with how it turned out and thought paste paper collage was definitely a good choice for the project.

“It was just so fun to look at the papers I had made,” Bousum said.

Bousum also has her work appearing in some of the “If Picasso…” books by Eric Gibbons, accompanied by other illustrators. Some of her watercolor work appears in a book of poetry by Gerald Johnson as well.

The hard work of Barr and Bousum isn’t officially published yet due to supply chain and staffing difficulties, but Barr hopes it will be available sometime in mid-December. Certain local businesses have agreed to sell her book upon publication, and the Marshall County Conservation Board will also have them available. Barr is compiling a wait list for those who want a copy as soon as possible.

All proceeds from “Leonard and Mildred Play Hide and Seek at Grimes Farm” will go to the Friends of Marshall County Conservation.