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Ride shotgun with the heroic mushers whose bravery inspired the Iditarod.
In the winter of 1925, Nome, Alaska, was hit by an unexpected and deadly outbreak of diphtheria. Officials immediately quarantined the town, but the only cure for the community of more than 1,400 people was antitoxin serum and the nearest supply was in Anchorage—hundreds of miles of snowbound wilderness away. The only way to get it to Nome was by dogsled.
Twenty teams braved subzero temperatures and blizzard conditions to run over 600 miles in six days in a desperate relay race that saved the people of Nome. Several of the dogs, including Togo and Balto, became national heroes. Today their efforts, and those of the courageous mushers, are commemorated every March by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Jon Van Zyle’s stunning oil paintings capture the brutal conditions, pristine wilderness, and sheer guts and determination demonstrated by the heroic mushers and dogs. ...
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Imagine a land where the sun rises at 1:58 a.m. in the summer and shines for less than three hours on a winter's day! The animals in the wilderness near Fairbanks, Alaska, witness some of the world's greatest temperature extremes and light variations every year. At an average low of -12 degrees Fahrenheit, the winters may be unpleasantly frigid, but the light shows are always glorious. Acclaimed author Debbie S. Miller details the sunsets, twilight, alpenglow, diamond dust, and other quietly beautiful phenomena that color "the land of the midnight sun," describing how the moose, caribou, grizzly bear, black wolf, and other Arctic animals survive and thrive in both the warm and cold seasons. The dramatic changes in light are captured perfectly in Jon Van Zyle's striking illustrations....
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“Are trees alive? How do they breathe? They don't have noses.”
And so begins a conversation between the author and her daughter that leads to a remarkable discovery: Trees are like children in so many ways! They may look very different from people, but trees have roots that hold them to the ground like feet and leaves that blow in the wind like hair. Their bark even comes in different colors, just like our skin.
From this poetic comparison of plants and humans, readers will learn how trees live and grow, and how they get their food. They will learn about the baobab trees of Africa, the banyan trees of India, and the bristlecone pines of California. They will see, through Stacey Schuett's exquisite art, that trees come in all shapes and sizes—just like people—and provide a home to many different animals. But most of all, they will look at trees with greater respect and a bit of awe, after realizing that trees are alive too. ...
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