Douglas Photographer, Casper Author Create Wildlife Book For Kids

Growing up on a ranch with no TV, Ron Hayes spent hours poring over the “Time Life: Wild World of Animals” series of books.

It’s part of where his lifelong passion for wildlife began. Now a professional wildlife photographer and videographer out of Douglas, he said he wants to instill that interest in wildlife in today’s youth because “even Wyoming children don't get outside to explore as much as previous generations.”

So, Hayes co-authored the book “Let Me Tell You About My Mom,” about wild animals and their babies, with children’s author Casey Rislov of Casper.

“I want to focus it on younger kids and develop that curiosity so it kind of narrows the gap, and the separation, with the natural world,” he said.

Love Of Wildlife

Wildlife has always been a focus in the Hayes family, including a great-uncle who was the director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and others who were wildlife artists.

“That's just what we did, is pursue wildlife in every way,” he said. “And then on the other side of the family, we had the ranch just east of Thermopolis, so I grew up outside all the time.”

He later earned a degree in biology with an emphasis on wildlife from the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota. He then worked for the Game and Fish department for four years as a contract employee before leaving for a full-time position in law enforcement. However, he said he still needed an outlet to enjoy wildlife, which is how he got into photography.

Hayes initially grabbed a Handycam and started filming wildlife, which led to him borrowing his father-in-law's Minolta film camera. He’s now an award-winning photographer, and has also done videography for wildlife documentaries.

“I kind of just dove into photography and filmmaking,” he said.

Originally, Hayes was interested in creating a children’s book about the swift fox. His favorite animal to photograph, he’s been capturing images of the fox since 2009 and thought it would be an easy story to tell.

“They're so animated,” he said. “It's a challenge because they're incredibly fast for their size, hence their name. I was part of a film crew for a documentary for BBC, and Tim Lehman, who was the primary cinematographer and has worked for National Geographic for years, took two days before he could get their speed and figure out how fast he needed to pan the camera to keep up with them.”

When Hayes found out he was going to be a grandfather for the first time though, it led to a new book idea.

“My grandson had some serious medical issues early on, so we really didn't know if he was going to make it, and I wanted him to have something,” he said. “I also wanted my daughter to have something, so I decided to write a book about wild moms.”

Instagram Connection

Hayes enjoyed the books by Rislov and reached out on Instagram about the possibility of collaborating. Rislov has been a children’s author for 12 years, but is most recently known for her Rowdy Randy books, which are illustrated by Zachary Pullen, also of Wyoming.

The books are about a horsefly who considers herself the toughest cowgirl around and is undeterred by her small size. Rislov also has her own publishing company called Mountain Stars Press, as well as nationwide distribution connections.

“I was actually admiring his wildlife photography on Instagram, and little did I know that he was enjoying my posts about children's books, especially the Rowdy Randy book series,” she said. “I was so excited because actually, my first degree was biology,” she said. “I did do more human biology, but I did take a Game and Fish class down the University of Wyoming, and I've always been outdoors.”

The two began talking in December 2021. Hayes’ grandson was born in April 2022 and the book was completed by that fall.

“My favorite thing about living in Wyoming is seeing the wildlife for myself,” Rislov said. “So I was actually really honored to do a nonfiction book. Ron definitely had things in mind because this has been his career, and so he definitely had some idea of what he wanted to say about at least half the animals, but then he gave it to me.”

There’s a variety of animals to learn about including brown bears, black bears, moose, elk, mountain goats, the swift and red fox, burrowing owl, loons and deer. A Grow-with-Me book, it has information for various ages, beginning with the animal names and their images. The first sentence on each page also repeats for each animal to benefit early readers.

“Each first sentence on each page, when you turn it to the next animal, it repeats itself so the beginner readers can learn to read,” Rislov said. “Then it’s the baby talking about its mom.”

Finally, each page provides facts about the animal.

“There's things in the book that most adults don't know, even in Wyoming. So it's a book that has a wide range, as far as the audience goes,” Hayes said. “It could be a 2-year-old just looking at the pictures, and it could be a 12-year-old reading the biological information.”

Hayes did a small print run himself in late 2022, but “Let Me Tell You About My Mom” was released nationally in February 2023.

Continued Partnership

More than a year later the book continues to gain recognition. It was recently awarded gold in the Children’s Nonfiction category by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY awards and was a High Plains Book Awards finalist in Montana. Now the pair plan to make it a series.

“It’s been a great partnership and I’m excited to do more with him,” Rislov said. “I think children just love animals, whether it's a pet or a wild animal. Everybody's fascinated with wildlife.”

Hayes said upcoming books will focus on where animals live. The first will be about bears around the world and it should be completed by Christmas 2025.

“I have to go to Ecuador in February and finish up the last last bear species in the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “My goal is to photograph the Andean bear, and then I'll go ahead and move forward with that book.”