COEUR d’ALENE — It’s everything that could be wanted in a children’s book: colorful illustrations, animals, educational rhymes, hidden images.

But the best part of the new Storywalk at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library is that it’s all about the natural world found right here in North Idaho, presented by Lake City High School senior Lydia Howard just in time for Earth Day.

"The order of it was inspired by 'There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.' Each one goes into the next,” Lydia said. "They all go together in the end to form Coeur d’Alene. And it’s for Earth Day, so everything has to do with sustaining the Earth, keeping it clean."

The environmentally focused, 16-panel Storywalk, titled "Sustain Coeur d'Alene," took the young artist two days to brainstorm and two weeks to illustrate as she worked on two pen, ink and watercolor images a day.

"When I saw her first drawing, I was like, 'This is amazing.’ I was so awed by her painting talent, and I hadn’t even seen the text for it," said Lydia's mentor, Char Beach, who works in outreach services for the library. "When I saw the whole thing together, I said, 'You need to publish this! This is just as good as any of the children’s books in the library.'"

"Sustain Coeur d'Alene" is Lydia's senior project for school. She is dual-enrolled at North Idaho College and plans to be an architect someday.

"A lot of architects use design and coming up with ideas and putting them on paper, kind of like this, coming up with the idea and coming up with something real,” Lydia said.

Her story showcases the local water cycle while highlighting indigenous critters and plants, including toadstools, trout, osprey and red squirrels.

By the end of it, viewers will understand how mushrooms are doctors of the natural world, how weather plays a role in seed distribution and that wild asters prevent soil erosion while serving as filters for fresh water.

And don't forget to look for the secret snails.

“A lot of research went into the words on each page,” Lydia said. "I learned a lot about how different things in nature provide for one another. It was super fun."

The "Sustain Coeur d'Alene" Storywalk is along the path just outside the library in McEuen Park. It will be up at least through May.

"It's the best of everything," Beach said.