Today we’ve got children’s picture books that emphasize kindness and anti-violence, and a new collection about New York from a Twin Cities baker/poet.

Minnesota author and graphic designer Michael Hall launches his new book “Punch!: A Story About Kindness” April 26, 2025, at Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul. (Courtesy of the author)

“Punch!”: by Michael Hall (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Publishers, $19.99)

Michael Hall (Courtesy of the author)

It’s always good news for the little ones and grown-ups when there’s a new picture book from nationally known author and graphic artist Hall. Subtitled “A Story About Kindness,” this one tells the story of Badger, who was looking for trouble. And he found it. “Badger tripped Frog/shoved Moose/kicked Elephant/and poked Bear with a shovel.” So Bear makes a three-part plan to teach Badger a lesson. In the end, we realize why Bear is so mean. Key words in big, bold colorful type are “Slug! Smack!”

Badger and all the animals in the story are blocky-bodied and big-eyed as are most of Hall’s funny characters in his previous books, including “Red: A Crayon’s Story,” “Perfect Square,” ‘It’s An Orange Aardvark,” and his 2015 debut, “My Heart Is Like a Zoo,” winner of a Minnesota Book Award.

Hall explains the new book this way: “When I was collecting homophones for my book ‘Cat Tale,’ I noticed an alarming number of them included synonyms for the word ‘hit.’ And I realized that if you were to say someone ‘socked, belted, cuffed, and crowned’ another person, you could mean either that they beat them up or got them dressed. This wordplay eventually led me to write ‘Punch!’, about the power of forgiveness and compassion over the impulse to seek revenge.”

Hall will launch his book, which has received two starred reviews, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day at Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul. At 1 p.m. Drew Brockingham will be at the store to discuss “Kitty Camp,” latest in his Catstronauts graphic novel series.

(Courtesy of Herald Press)

A more serious picture book is “Sparking Peace,” which looks at gun violence in a way children will understand with help from adults. Written by Teresa Kim Pecinovsky and Hannah Roe Martin, illustrated in bold colors by Gabhor Utomo, the story is about a boy who is taken by his father to a forge where the blacksmith heats a piece of metal that an older woman is pounding out in fury into something new: “As the blacksmith works/I see the faces of/people around me./They are sad./Some are crying./The blacksmith invites them/to take the hammer/and swing.” The piece of metal, once a gun barrel, becomes “…a garden tool/A shovel./Something that doesn’t/break hearts.”

This might not make sense to children of picture book age since they are too young to understand “swords into plowshares” (which is not explicitly in the book). But the authors say they are trying to find a way to begin discussions with children about gun violence.

“Sparking Peace” is published by Herald Press in cooperation with RAWtools Inc., a Colorado-based organization that turns guns into garden tools through blacksmithing.

(Courtesy of Paris Morning Publications)

“We Talked About New York”: by Klecko (Paris Morning Publications, $20)

To be a successful poet

You only have to follow two rules

# 1- Observe

# 2 –Love

it’s really that simple

if you are a poet

if you follow these rules

The fish will jump into the boat — from “We Talked About New York”

Danny Klecko (Courtesy of Danny Klecko)

“I’ve conquered New York,” Danny Klecko modestly says of his new collection about the sounds and sights of the Big Apple that inspired his 16th book, as well as having his poetry published seven times in the New York Times Metropolitan Diary feature. Add his public interview last year with New York-based actor Isabella Rossellini and you’ve got a book about a tall, multi-tattooed guy from Minnesota whose poems were inspired by E.B. White’s “Here Is New York.”

These poems, told in Klecko”s signature outsider-observing mode, range in topic from kids playing video games on the D-Line subway, his experience reading poems aloud in the rain in Central Park (“nobody paid attention”), to a visit to the Algonquin Hotel, home of the famous writers Round Table, as well as drinking with his entourage in a jazz club.

Instead of writing long poems, Klecko divides them into three and four short sections including Strawberry Fields, Coney Island and Kettle of Fish.

Klecko claims to “talk to everyone,” even (or especially) those who irritate him. He writes about conversing with a woman drummer and a taxi driver who now considers Klecko his brother. But he’s also a listener, as he shows in a poem about a woman with an umbrella who sits with a man having a bad day.

And then there’s Rossellini, who Klecko interviewed on-stage last year during Home For Life Animal Sanctuary’s gala. In 11 short poems he recalls that night and Rossellini’s graciousness, including her familiarity with his skills as a master bread maker: “She never mentioned herself/She never mentioned our show/Instead, she said with an accent/I won’t try to replicate/Good evening Mr. Klecko/What shall we discuss/Your poems/Or your sourdough starter?”

Klecko will launch his book at 4 p.m. April 27 at Black Forest Inn, 1 E. 26th St.,  Mpls., with guest poet Donna Isaac and poet/essayist Erica Christ. Klecko, who left St. Paul to live in Minneapolis (which he refers to as Babylon), is as much showman as poet. He is proud to say of his audiences: “At first they are stunned… because there is nobody like Klecko.”

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Lawmakers are questioning how Minnesota awards money to nonprofits as a state senator faces scrutiny for his association with groups he helped fund.

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion.

Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, recently stepped down as chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct amid questions about his pro bono legal work for the head of a nonprofit he helped get $3 million through a budget bill two years ago.

Champion, an attorney, has maintained his free legal work for Rev. Jerry McAfee, who heads the Minneapolis violence prevention organization 21 Days of Peace, did not coincide with his efforts to fund the group in 2023. His ties have prompted ethics concerns from his Senate colleagues.

Champion stepped down from the committee pending a review and advisory opinion, though a few days later, Senate Republicans filed an ethics complaint against him, asking the ethics committee to look into whether he violated rules prohibiting actions that discredit the Senate or undermine public trust in government.

Weak ethics rules

It’s rare for ethics complaints to result in serious action against a member of the Legislature. And direct funding for nonprofits through bills rather than through a competitive process is commonplace at the Capitol.

Further, Minnesota’s ethics laws for state lawmakers have historically been rated as weak by watchdog groups, and the part-time nature of the Legislature, where many members hold other jobs, lends itself to some level of conflicts of interest, political observers say.

David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University, said the nature of Minnesota’s “citizen Legislature” lends itself to an acceptance of the fact that lawmakers’ work will naturally intersect with their occupations.

In the 1990s, the state enacted a ban on lobbyist gifts to legislators, though few major changes have happened since, including disclosure rules. In fact, lawmakers relaxed some of those restrictions in 2013, MinnPost reported.

“We’ve been resting on our reputation for 30 years, thinking we’re doing a really good job, thinking that we have really good ethics disclosure rules, when, in fact, we don’t,” said Schultz.

In 2015, the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit watchdog, gave Minnesota a “D-” rating for government accountability and transparency, ranking it 28th out of 50 states. The score was a composite of many factors, including public access to information and lobbying disclosure.

On its legislative accountability index, the center rated Minnesota an “F” at 44th place. The state has made few changes to its ethics rules since.

Sen. Mark Johnson.

Current state ethics rules say members can’t vote on matters that result in a direct financial gain for themselves or their business disproportionate to others in the same field. There’s nothing preventing a teacher, farmer, nurse or business owner from voting on matters related to their work.

Earlier this month, Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, told reporters that’s to be expected in a part-time legislature, but Champion’s ties warrant greater scrutiny.

“You have teachers voting on education bills, you have contractors voting on bonding bills. But here you have a specific group that a legislator funds money to and then they have connections,” he said. “We have some real concerns about that.”

Sen. Erin P. Murphy. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate)

Asked by reporters about the potential conflict, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, recalled eventually leaving her position as executive director of the Minnesota Nurses Association after being elected to the Legislature, despite her role not violating ethics rules.

“It is time for us to take a look again at what we need as a standard on the conflict of interest,” she said. “So, members doing good work for the people of Minnesota: Don’t get caught in that gray area.”

Legislatively named grants

It’s commonplace for Minnesota lawmakers to grant funding to specific nonprofit organizations. Museums, arts groups, charities, and educational groups are often funded by name in bills.

After Champion’s ties to nonprofits he helped fund came to light, lawmakers of both parties said the Legislature should explore changes to legislatively named grants.

Sen. Michael Kreun. (Courtesy of the candidate)

Among them is Sen. Michael Kreun, R-Blaine, who brought the Senate Republicans’ complaint against Champion. Kreun said there should be stricter rules on when nonprofit organizations get money directly through a bill rather than having to apply for it through a state agency.

“Maybe there are situations where it is appropriate, but I think they should be rare,” he said. ”I think we should take a look at the rules surrounding those so that those particular bills are scrutinized more.”

Even before Champion’s potential conflicts came to light, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers called for a competitive grant process rather than naming specific nonprofits as recipients.

The letter, signed by all eight members of the House Fraud and Government Oversight Committee — five Republicans and three DFLers — urged members of budgeting committees to stop making legislatively named grants. They noted that while they make sense in some cases, they should be the “rare exception rather than a general practice.”

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, who authored the lobbyist gift ban from the 1990s, called the named appropriation issue an ethical “minefield” and said he’s interested in commissioning a report by experts to give the Legislature advice on changing the process.

“I think we do better than most states in a lot of ways, but … I think we have a long way to go,” he said. “We’ve got some good legislators trying to do good things, but, but we should be doing better, and it avoids more problems if we do this.”

Marty said one thing lawmakers need to consider when restricting direct grants to nonprofits is whether the bid process will actually result in a different outcome. In some cases, there may only be one nonprofit that fulfills the state’s needs, and a grant process would be redundant.

Sen. John Marty.

Another concern Marty raised is that well-established foundations that know the government bidding process well would outcompete smaller nonprofits or nonprofits from historically underrepresented minority communities.

House lawmakers signaled they were aware of that concern in their March letter.

“We want to reassure you that a shift away from direct legislative appropriations need not diminish our role in guiding funding to meet the unique needs of our communities, they wrote. “Guidelines and reviewers should ensure that smaller organizations and those serving underrepresented communities are not overlooked.”

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Wearing a graphic blazer designed in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat, art collector Leif Hagen points to paintings on the walls of his new gallery in Eagan.

This study of a man, painted with unusually wide brushstrokes, is by a Greek artist in London, he explains. This painting, of a girl carrying a teddy bear on her back, is by an artist in Malawi and incorporates both acrylic paints and African textiles. This one, painted on a pillow-shaped ceramic tile, depicts a man in a Turkish fez hat; Hagen bought it when he was in Istanbul in February.

Several artworks hang on the wall at Hagen Hus Gallery in Eagan on April 14, 2025. Just about all the works on display in the gallery are for sale, and owner Leif Hagen plans to stage a new exhibition in the gallery every quarter or so. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)

The gallery, Hagen Hus, is unexpected: It’s smaller than your average bedroom and located on the second floor of an office building, tucked inside the suite that houses Hagen’s day job; he works as a financial planner and insurance advisor. But Hagen Hus showcases several dozen bold and colorful works from more than 15 countries, reflecting Hagen’s eclectic, cross-cultural approach to art curation.

“Normally I wear a suit and tie and am all serious, but this is my fun art persona,” Hagen joked. “I tell my clients, I don’t have a cabin and I don’t have motorcycles, but I have a little art. We all have our own little collections and passions, and art is mine.”

By “a little art,’ of course, Hagen means a lot of art. Beyond the gallery, the office suite could easily contain a hundred individual paintings and artworks nestled together on the walls, Tetris-style. The walls of his home are the exact same way, said Hagen’s partner, Val Oliveira.

Dozens of original paintings and other artworks are nestled among one another on the walls of collector Leif Hagen’s office in Eagan. Hagen, a financial planner, recently built out a portion of a vacant neighboring office suite into an art gallery. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)

“Empty wall space in my book is kind of a sin,” Hagen said. “It’s really kind of a waste, right?”

And every painting has a backstory, with which Hagen will readily regale you. Through buying their art, Hagen has struck up personal friendships with many of the artists whose paintings hang on his walls, and hearing about their backgrounds and day-to-day lives gives the works deeper meaning for him, he said.

It also speaks to Hagen’s decades-long reputation as a devoted pen pal. Growing up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, he wrote to people all over the world; in 2022, he visited Liechtenstein to mark 40 years of pen-pal friendship with a woman named Monica, an occasion that was covered by the daily Liechtensteiner Vaterland newspaper.

After graduating from St. Olaf College, Hagen spent several years teaching in Switzerland and Japan. He ultimately returned to Minnesota and followed in his father’s and twin brother’s footsteps as a financial advisor. But all along, he collected art, and the opening of Hagen Hus is a dream-come-true moment for him, he said.

Just about all the works on display in the gallery are for sale, and Hagen plans to stage a new exhibition in the gallery every quarter or so. Earlier this month, he spent a week in New York taking a gallery management short-course at Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

“At the end of the day a lot of days, when I’m ready to go home, I take a swing through the office before I turn the lights off,” he said. “It just brings me so much joy and happiness.”

Hagen Hus Gallery, which officially opens April 24, can be visited by appointment only. (Hagen still has to work, after all.) Hagen regularly shares art from his collection on Instagram @nordicartcollector, and the gallery itself is @hagenhusgallery.

Hagen Hus Gallery: 4640 Nicols Rd., Suite 203, Eagan; hagenhusgallery.com

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Sofia Serdiouk, age 11, of Woodbury, wanted to participate in the 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest, but she faced a quandary.

She used items around the house to create her “Peeps creamery” diorama, with some duct tape assistance from her brother, but she needed to go to the store to buy some Peeps.

However, her mom was too busy to take her shopping, according to Sofia. Sofia’s dad took her to Menards, which is apparently a challenging place to locate Peeps.

Somehow, under a tight deadline, Sofia persevered, and turned in an ice-cream themed diorama (with Peeps!) that won an honorable mention in our annual contest, which fielded more than 100 entries this year.

“The Peeps Creamery” by Sofia Serdiouk, age 11, of Woodbury. Honorable mention in the 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Marisol Serdiouk.)

We love that marshmallow-fueled spirit, of Peeple coming together, of making it work, of creativity, that is the essence of this tradition that dates to 2004. Thank you, Peeps. And congrats to the top winners, who will receive gift cards ranging from $100 to $50.

For all of our other Peeps, please print out a Certificate of ParticiPEEPtion and feel proud!

First place: “Peeps Don’t Tan” by the mother-and-daughter team of Kristin Sykes and Shannon Sykes of Cottage Grove

“Peeps Don’t Tan” by the mother-and-daughter team of Kristin Sykes and Shannon Sykes of Cottage Grove. First place, 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Kristin Sykes and Shannon Sykes)

“My mom and I have had the idea to show the progression of a Peep tanning for many years,” Shannon explained in this dynamic duo’s entry. “As a mother-daughter team, we have had a lot of experiences at the beach together, and had our fair share of sunburns. This made us wonder: How would a marshmallow fare in the summer heat?”

It wasn’t beach season when this team started making their diorama, though.

“Most of our sand in the backyard was frozen and covered in layers of snow,” Shannon wrote. “We tried dirt, but it didn’t quite look right. It was my mom, Kristin, who came up with the idea to use brown sugar! It was the perfect substitute, and you can hardly tell it isn’t sand.

“I created the foaming waves using a bottle of window cleaner, and sprayed it onto the construction paper and fake sand. The foamy soap in the cleaner perfectly replicated crashing waves. The only hard part was taking photos quick enough before the bubbles started disappearing!”

But that wasn’t the best part.

“The most fun part of the project was getting to do it with my mom!” Shannon wrote. “We both contributed ideas the other wouldn’t think of, and working together was a great way to spend my winter break while home from college!”

That’s the part we love most about this contest: it provides an opportunity for people to bond over dioramas — including our top prize winners.

Second place (tie): “National Parks Peep’s Road Trip Vacation” by Heidi Hansen of St. Paul and “Peepzen Coffee” by the Grand and Pascal neighbors in St. Paul (Jason Koenig, Jeff Miersch, Alisa Lein, Tom Mueller, Kevinn Tam and Christina Koppang).

It was a tie for second place in a competition between staying close to home and heading out for a road trip.

“National Parks Peep’s Road Trip Vacation” by Heidi Hansen. Second place (tie), 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Heidi Hansen.)

We loved how Heidi Hansen of St. Paul created Peeps traveling to different places in “National Parks Peep’s Road Trip Vacation.” Hansen displayed a selection of Polaroid-like images showing scenes from parks, from a Peep taking a selfie with a buffalo in the Badlands to another watching whales in Glacier Bay to two Peeps stargazing from a tent at Voyageurs.

We asked Hansen how she made this mini masterpiece.

“I made small shadow boxes to look like Polaroid pics out of foam board and painted all the backgrounds on poster board and mounted them on a piece of black foam board,” she replied.

While Hansen’s Peeps travel far and wide, the Peeps of our other second-place winners prefer traveling just around the block for a cup of coffee — with a side of cat.

Inspired by Catzen Coffee: “Peepzen Coffee” by The Grand and Pascal Neighbors in St. Paul (Jason Koenig, Jeff Miersch, Alisa Lein, Tom Mueller, Kevinn Tam and Christina Koppang). Second place (tie), 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of the Grand and Pascal neighbors.)

“This diorama is based off of Catzen Coffee which opened up on 1/1/25 at 1416 Grand Avenue and has been drawing in people from all over the metro,” the Grand & Pascal Neighbors wrote in their entry. “All of us who worked on this diorama live and/or work just a block away and love the new neighborhood establishment to the Avenue.”

Inspired by Catzen Coffee: “Peepzen Coffee” by the Grand and Pascal neighbors in St. Paul (Jason Koenig, Jeff Miersch, Alisa Lein, Tom Mueller, Kevinn Tam and Christina Koppang). Second place (tie), 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of the Grand and Pascal neighbors.)

A dog among them, though, felt differently.

“The evening before we were scheduled to photograph the diorama,” the neighbors wrote, “our dog climbed up onto a chair at the table and ate five of the bunnies lined up along the ‘sidewalk’ in front of the cafe.  An emergency run to the store to get more happened later that night but the only color available was pink, so we’re a little pink bunny heavier than initially planned.”

Still looks delicious to us!

Third place: “Love is Blind in Minnepeepolis” by Susie Emmert of Minneapolis.

“Love is Blind in Minnepeepolis” by Susie Emmert of Minneapolis. Third place, 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Susie Emmert)

As far as reality television goes, nothing was closer to home than the eighth season of “Love is Blind,” which is set in Minneapolis.

It provided the theme for Susie Emmert’s diorama.

“‘Love is Blind’ is the only reality show I watch, so when it was filmed in Minneapolis, I was beyond excited for it,” she wrote in her entry. “When it occurred to me I had the doll house furniture in storage, and had been saving the perfect purple box for no specific reason (because you can’t throw away a good box), I knew I had a ‘Love is Blind’ pod ready to be built!”

If you don’t know, the Netflix show’s concept involves getting to know someone while communicating from separate pods.

The diorama also has details that match the show’s, including the golden goblets that are a sipping signature.

“Love is Blind in Minnepeepolis” by Susie Emmert of Minneapolis. Third place, 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Susie Emmert)

It was a love match — and a 3D printer– that helped make those happen.

“My husband and kids have been making a lot of random things on the 3D printer, so he made the miniature gold cups like they use on the show,” Emmert explains. “fter multiple tries, we now have a set of gold cups just like the show, but for Peeps! They are painted with tempera gold paint. He also used the 3D printer to make the big blue screen they face in the show, the panels to make the shape of the room, and the top border from the bird’s-eye view of the pods, and finally, the tiny engagement ring box being used for the proposal.”

Honorable mentions:

“Dye-O-Rama” by Kira Hartke of Minneapolis. This Peep Dye-O-Rama was inspired by Peeps being on the list of foods that currently have red dye 3 in their ingredients list.
“2025 Peeps Easter Egg Hunt” by Laura Bathke. After Bathke was diagnosed with cancer a day before retiring, she opted to enter our contest while her travel plans were put on hold.
“Peeper Nooo” (a reference to “The White Lotus”) by sibling duo Taylor Hillestad and Garrett Hillestad of St. Paul.
“Take a Peep at What We Found!” by Judy Smith and Melanie Hendrickson of St. Paul (inspired by our Treasure Hunt and featuring this year’s medallion!).

MasterPeeps winner: “There’s Been a Murder!” by Cynthia Kleist of Shoreview.

“There’s Been a Murder!” by Cynthia Kleist of Shoreview. MasterPeeps winner in the 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Cynthia Kleist)

This year, we created a new category for past top winners: MasterPeeps!

“There’s Been a Murder!” by Cynthia Kleist of Shoreview. MasterPeeps winner in the 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Cynthia Kleist)

Cynthia Kleist’s dioramas have topped our contests through the years, including a pandemic-themed one, “The Do’s and Mostly Don’ts of Zoom Meetings,” that took first place in 2021.

This year, Kleist was inspired by an iconic board game.

“There’s been a murder and no one is saying a peep, so we don’t have a clue!” Kleist wrote.

In addition to the murder scene, there’s a close-up of the suspects (with one of them holding a Pioneer Press!).

“If you look closely at the diorama you will be able to figure out the weapon and who did it!” Kleist wrote. “Good luck!”

MasterPeeps: Honorable mentions:

“Minnepeepolis Sculpture Garden” by the Schomburg family. Artists: Murray, Bev, Brian, Aaron, Heidi, Scott, Greg, Moira, Grayden (16), Evelyn (13), Harrison (12) and Helena (8) Schomburg.
“‘Sweet’ Deals on TESLAR Cybertrucks!” by Jill Schaefer of Minnetonka.
“Peep What You Sow Community Garden” by Katherine Rose of St. Paul.

Little Peeple (7-12) winner: “Marshmallow Institute of Art” by Esmé Micek, age 10, of Woodbury.

“Marshmallow Institute of Art” by Esmé Micek, age 10, of Woodbury. Little Peeple (ages 7-12) winner, 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Marisol Serdiouk)

We loved this diorama of Peeps admiring art at a museum that is a play on the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

“Esmé’s diorama features Peeps viewing renowned works of art at the M.I.A. — the Marshmallow Institute of Art,” writes Esmé’s mom, Mykala Micek. “The museum’s holdings include paintings of the ‘Mona Peep-sa,’ ‘The Scream,’ ‘American Gothic,’ as well as a rare 15th-century Italian marble Peep statue.

“Inspired by her visits to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (and a budding interest in art history), Esmé wanted to create a Peep-sized version of a museum for her marshmallow friends to enjoy, as well,” Micek wrote. “Her favorite part was re-creating the famous paintings with Peeps, and she was so excited to show us the finished pieces.”

Chicks (0-6) winner: “Music in the House” by Trinity Huntzicker, age 5, of Minneapolis.

“Music in the House” by Trinity Huntzicker, age five, of Minneapolis. Winner of the Chick (0-6 years old) category, 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Jim Huntzicker)

The judges were charmed by the musical performance of the Peeps in Trinity Huntzicker’s diorama, and we also admired her perseverance.

This is the third year Trinity has entered this contest.

Back in 2023, Trinity created a “Peeps Patrol” scene using the “Paw Patrol” toys she got for Christmas. She took that theme outside in 2024, using both Peeps and “Paw Patrol” elements.

This year, Trinity is back indoors and inspired by something new — and something old — in her diorama, which features Peeps playing musical instruments in a vintage setting.

“The doll house belonged to Trinity’s mother,” the entry submission said. “Trinity loves music.”

Bravo, Trinity!

Peep-ager (13-17) winner: “Marshmallow Data Refinement” by Conrad Zenisek Ridley, 13, of Minneapolis.

We’ve got another family connection this year! In addition to the mother-daughter team who took first place, Conrad is the stepson of Susie Emmert, our third-place winner.

“Marshmallow Data Refinement” by Conrad Zenisek Ridley, 13, of Minneapolis. Winner, Peep-ager category, 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Conrad Zenisek Ridley)

“My stepmom came to me and told me about the competition, and I had recently been watching ‘Severance,’” Conrad wrote.

(The Apple TV+ series is a sci-fi take on the work-life balance.)

“When I couldn’t think of an idea, I decided to just do ‘Severance,’ so first I went online and got a 3D model of a Peep, and I removed the ears and part of the head in a CAD program,” Conrad wrote. “For Christmas, my family got a 3D printer, so I used it to first print the Peep, then the desk, monitor, keyboard and other items. Then, I painted them all with acrylic paints. Finally, I cut the marshmallow Peep off so it was shorter to fit the desk.”

As for the judges and our impression of Conrad’s work, we quote Mark Scout from Season 1, Episode 4: “The work is mysterious and important.”

Honorable mentions (youth categories):

“Camping” by Tony Aung, age 8, of Maplewood.
“The Peeps Creamery” by Sofia Serdiouk, age 11, of Woodbury.
“Peep Simpsons” by Michael Mewis, age 11, of Glenwood City, Wis.
“It’s The Great Peep-kin, Charlie Brown!” by the White Bear Lake-based Tocko clan: Chloe Tocko, age 17; Noelle Tocko, age 14; and Wyatt Tocko, age 9. Supervised by Mom (Amanda), Dad (Kevin), Aunt Dawn and Uncle Dan.

Pioneer Press Peepers

In our second annual employee version of the Peeps contest, we had four strong contenders:

The Peeps were playing in a “basement jam sesh” by Mars King; the Peeps went sledding in Imani Cruzen’s diorama; the Peeps attended the 2024 Met Gala in Talia McWright’s diorama and Frederick Melo wrangled up some kids to recreate a Taylor Swift concert.

“Pioneer Press Peeps Judging People’s Peeps for the 2025 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest” by Molly Guthrey for the 2nd Annual Employee Peeps Diorama Contest. (Courtesy of Molly Guthrey)

At press time, with employee votes still incoming, the lead candidate was Molly Guthrey’s diorama, which recreated our real-life, in-person voting process that involves coffee and Post-it notes. Over the years, as Molly notes, we have judged more than 4,000 dioramas!

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