ADVENTURES IN ALASKA. Origins in Ohio!

Okay. I've written a lot of books, but this new one is special!

I got to work on this with Yuko Green and my

friends at Island Heritage - always a treat to be sure.

Yuko has that ability to capture the truth and the fun

of an adventure like this one.........and it all began in Ohio.

If you read the book, you will see two kids setting out on

a summer adventure with their parents.

They travel to Alaska from Ohio and while away,

write postcards to their classmates back home in Pickerington

at Whalestreet Elementary!

Well.......Whalestreet is not just one school but a composite

of all the schools I have worked with in recent years

that connect with Dr. Mary Sheridan, Dr. Sharon Buda,

Larrie Habel, and the person I dedicated the book to,

Susan Pomerantz.

Together, we have introduced kids to the water world

and connected them to the distant ocean

in ways few can imagine

and

it would and hopefully will, take me a BIG BOOK

to explain.

Let's just say we have had fun getting kids out onto waters

and into some amazing art and ecology projects.

But wait.

The kids in the book write to Whalestreet, but address their postcards

to

Paula Vertikoff and Charlotte Stiverson,

both amazing teachers I had the privilege of working with

during their very first year of teaching in Columbus schools!

For those of you familiar with Fred the Monkey and Project SOAR,

Paula introduced me to Fred........

Charlotte and her students at Columbus School for Girls

have long been inspiration for me in their many environmentally

sensitive projects. Plus, they have been my most cherished

editors and helpers on books that have and haven't

appeared in print! We have fun with words and actions.

But wait!

There is certainly more if you turn to page 32.

There you will find the most wonderful poem,

theoretically written by our young Alaska Adventurer,

but in truth, written by a student at

Tremont Elementary!

Thanks to Claudia Fett for helping kids

get involved in the poetry contest that led to this

Raven Poem.

Raven is said to have the hand of creation

and I have had the luck of being handed friendships in Ohio.

Thank you to all who have supported my work.

I look forward to hearing all the raven poems at an event

in Columbus soon!