Inspired by Stephen Alcorn's magnificent animal portraits, popular poet and noted anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins commissioned thirteen poets to craft verses to match the eloquence of this art. The resulting celebration of art and nature captures the subtle intensity and striking textures of a renowned artist's relief-block prints in a unique homage to the power, mystery, and beauty of the natural world.

Lee Bennett Hopkins and Stephen Alcorn's first poetry anthology, My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States,, was honored as one of the best books of 2000 by School Library Journal, the American Booksellers Association, and the New York Public Library. A Junior Library Guild Selection, the book inspired an entire Reading Rainbow program devoted exclusively to it.