Fran’s Favorites: Strawberries and Storybook trails By Fran DeWine Even with the rain, this has been a great week to open some of the “Storybook Trails” at our state parks. Last year we opened four of them, including one of my favorites — close to my home — at John Bryan State Park. In Ohio we have an incredible number of beautiful and fun state parks — 75! Last year, during COVID, we had more people than ever before visiting our state parks. Being outside at our parks was a safe and healthy thing to do for the whole family. The Ohio Governor’s Imagination Library partnered with Mary Mertz, director of Ohio Department of Natural Resources, to make “Storybook Trails.” The books were chosen from the Imagination Library books that children are receiving. The trails are half a mile long through the parks. Pages of the books are blown up in panels, and the children walk from page to page and read the book. The books are usually about nature, and on each story board page there is an activity. Sometimes it is about spotting a flower, or looking in a hollow log, or listening for a bird.