Maris Wicks

My recent faves: "The Jellyfish" by Boum (YA), "Scout is Not a Band Kid" by Jade Armstrong (middle grade), "Hidden Systems" by Dan Nott (YA?), "My Favorite Thing is Monsters" by Emil Ferris (adult), "Bog Myrtle" by Sid Sharp (all ages?)

PCRF The Palestine Children's Relief Fund was established in 1992 by concerned humanitarians in the USA to bring injured and sick children for free medical care they could not get locally

If you want to make a donation, this is a good one. I’ve given to them before and will be doing so again.

www.pcrf.net

Thank you for reporting on this - I had no idea this happened (and I try to stay informed on climate science). The whole situation is heartbreaking and infuriating - I hope there’ll be a way to watch For Winter someday.

Why Did National Geographic Disappear Its Own Documentary About A Queer Climate Scientist? | Defector If you’re not a particular kind of mountain sports nerd, you might not be familiar with the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour. But for people who live their lives in the overlapping circl...

Last fall, I attended the premiere of a film that meant a lot to me. In late January, all of its hundreds of planned screenings were canceled without explanation. For @defector.com, I went digging:

caked up mother earth in her thigh high fishnets is stomping in her stripper heels looking back at it. The words say "Milfs for Mother Earth

The earth is once again looking back at it in her fishnets but looks more coy in this one. The words say "Ok so climate change, a couple important things to note: 1) it's not too late to make a difference 2) Every 1/10th of a degree of warming matters 3) Governments need to do most of it 4) Acting as communities really matters. Here are some things we CAN do 1) Ditch cars, take transit 2) Switch to renewable energy 3) get solar for your roof 4)Share stuff, buy less 5) Don't use AI 6) talk to your friends and family about solutions. Details here (which points to a QR)

Mother earth looks at you over her sunglasses over the words "Do something" repeated a bunch of times, then under her it says "Doing anything is better than nothing", "learn how" and a qr

Mother earth is wearing a flower crown and peeking up from the bottom of the page. The words say "Biodiversity When it comes to protecting plants and animals, start by thinking local. Animals usually suffer most from habitat loss and climate change. Solving climate change is hard. Building habitat for wildlife is easier. Every action you take matters. Here's what we can do 1) Create good habitat by planting native plants 2) Stop using pesticides and get others to stop too 3) Kill your lawn, replace with useful plants 4) Fight to preserve wild spaces and to reclaim abandoned land 5) Encourage friends and family to do all this too"

I went into goblin mode last night and completed what is for sure the most unhinged zine I have produced to date.

I'll fold some up tonight and put them around and see how people react lol

If anyone is interested in printing one for your own enjoyment, here ya go drive.google.com/file/d/1eVEW...

I am enjoying the cursed/Caravaggio painting vibes in the photos! And I’m excited for a full reveal someday - they look weasel-ish to me! (There are stoats where I live now and I love their looooong bodies!)

Omg NOT the same time zone *smacks forehead* it’s been a year and Atlantic Time is still getting me haha

If you have any questions, let me know! (like "When are the bugs the worst?" haha) We’re a half hour from the national park, so I’m getting to know all the hikes and swim spots!

I was the "invertebrate freak" of the dive trip I was on…luckily the trip consisted of other various aquarium nerds who would take the time to admire inverts with me (and share their random marine critter facts).

If you ever want to come visit, you’re welcome anytime! (It’s a haul, but I like to think it’s worth it.) And yay same country! And time zone!

I would audibly shriek through my regulator when I saw queen conchs while diving - I love their googely eyes!

This has been my whole past year! I moved from Boston to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia last summer…I think it’s kinda getting easier, or at least it’s not nearly as daunting as it was the first few months. I am waaaay more introverted than I was in my 20s/30s.

A four panel comic titled Bird Sounds. In panel 1, labeled thrush, a wood thrush sings its beautiful eeohlay song against a forest background. In panel 2, labeled wren, a winter wren delicately sings tweedly tweedly tweedly. In panel 3, labeled warbler, a yellow warbler delicately sings sweet sweet. In panel 4, labeled heron in a death metal font, a heron screams KRAAGH against a background of fire.

Bird sounds.

A portion of an elaborate maze with many details, including bodies of water filled with sharks, ships, and sea monsters.

A portion of an elaborate maze showing a waterfall, a ship, and a sea monster.

A portion of an elaborate maze showing many details, including a whale, staircases, and the finish line.

Summertime is for getting lost on purpose.

Stuck in the tar pit :/ it seriously looked just like regular water. Can someone come by and lift me out? You might have to lean in a little to reach me, thx

Today's Supreme Court decision, though couched in the language of freedom and inclusivity, is a tragic failure for both the right to read and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. Authors Against Book Bans stands firmly and fiercely against the decision and its rationale. To allow parents to "object" to the presence of positive books about the lives and rights of LGBTQIA+ people is to allow them to "object" to the existence of LGBTQIA+ students, parents, educators, and others in the wider community. You cannot “opt out” of reality, no matter what today’s majority opinion states. These books belong on shelves and these stories belong in classrooms and curricula.

Our statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling in Mahmoud v Taylor. Image thread with alt text. 1/4

Just a reminder that if you’re an author and you’re feeling a certain way about the Mahmoud decision, there’s a place for you: www.authorsagainstbookbans.com

Paper Airplane magazine cover. An ice cream vendor on the beach holds up a cone toward an ice cream-shaped cloud.

Believe me when I tell you that this thing has been burning a hole in my pocket, so I'm wildly excited to announce:

Paper Airplane magazine vol. 1 arrives TOMORROW, Tuesday, June 24, exclusively at PaperAirplane.pub!

Here’s the first look at the cover art by the amazing @kaitlinbrito.bsky.social

I have a comic out today in Paper Airplane mag! It’s four pages and it has all the things I love: hiking, my family, my dog, and the blue ridge mountains! Available exclusively at PaperAirplane.pub by making a donation to support refugees and immigrants. Share it with anyone who likes to smile!

Get a great magazine while supporting a great cause! (Also, I got to contribute one-page comic for it!!)

A New Citizen Science Project Tracks Gull Diets - American Birding Association A new citizen science project called Gulls Eating Stuff invites public submissions of gulls eating anything to help researchers study urbanization’s effects on gull diets and behavior.

Have you ever seen a gull eat something weird?

A new citizen science project, Gulls Eating Stuff, is tracking what gulls gobble, and anyone can participate! Submit your photos, explore the observations of other gullers, and help document the changing diets of gulls for science.

A book called The Birding Dicitionary, A tongue-in-cheek guide for people who find themselves obsessed, against all logic and reason, with birds, by Rosemary Mosco. There's a drawing a vermilion flycatcher pooping on some binoculars.

I realized recently that my latest book is my 10th book(!), which seems wild to me because I still sometimes feel shy about calling myself an author(?!). I thought I'd do a thread of all my books.
My latest is The Birding Dictionary, a tongue-in-cheek guide to birding terms.

Image: vintage card, color illustration of a pair of Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs in an underwater scene, with artist name printed bottom left More info: Horseshoe Crabs (Xiphosura) have been around for a long time...their fossil record goes back over 440 mya! This card illustrates the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus), one of four still-living species and the only one native to the Americas. Also, their common name is misleading - they are not true crabs or even crustaceans, but rather chelicerates, making them closer relatives of arachnids and sea spiders.

Happy International #HorseshoeCrabDay!
Heinrich Harder (German, 1858-1935) Pfeilschwankrebs (Horseshoe Crabs), 1916 Collector Card from Tiere der Urwelt (Animals of the Prehistoric World) Series I
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Li...

A flyer for the next instalment of the Palaeoverse Lecture Series, featuring a cartoon of an open laptop with the Palaeoverse logo on, and a picture of Dr Collins with pink hair, wearing glasses and a checked shirt

🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨
🗓️26th June 2025, 15:00 UTC🗓️

Join us for next week’s talk given by Dr Katie Collins from the Natural History Museum, UK, on “Both round and upward: Spiral morphometry and how to compare things that are the same, but different” 🐚

Register here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-...

A Work of Love Queerness exists in nature. Take it from the artist that illustrated hundreds of examples of it.

Queerness exists in nature. Take it from the artist that illustrated hundreds of examples of it.

HAPPY BIRFDAY!!

Comic title: Why Wouldn't I Want That? Gender-affirming care for trans people is hotly debated, but for cisgender people, it's just called "healthcare.”

Gender-affirming care isn't called "gender-affirming care" when it's for cisgender people. It's just called "healthcare." New comic by Al Benbow: www.crucialcomix.com/comic/why-wo...

Ooooh yes I love it!!! As always, beautiful work! (also this is my favorite Disney movie 😍)

A comic about being unable to answer emails on time ever lol

Speaking of Patreon I am drawing some journal comics for it right now you can find it here www.patreon.com/c/katebeaton

In a comic strip panel, person in a red shirt walks through a sunlit forest. The text says "Sometimes I go looking for a tiny part of the universe." "This part only takes up as much space as: half an apple, a salt shaker, or 2 ping pong balls." Each of these items is shown. Galaxies and stars swirl as the text says "But somehow, in an unfathomably huge universe," and then there's a complex mess of forest leaves, with one tiny Wilson's warbler in one corner, and the text says "this one tiny part" There's a close up of the warbler, blazing yellow against a sparkly yellow background, and the text says "can fill up my whole heart."

Tiny part.