April, 2003      ISBN 0-8027-8833-5

Ages 7-10.   The sea is an endless wonder that has shaped the course of human civilization.  Thousands of years ago, during a glacial      epoch, the sea retreated and exposed more than 2 million acres of dry land.  This land bridge enabled early man to cross over from Asia and eventually settle North and South    America.  Explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan  is played courage as they searched for shorter ocean routes to new worlds.  Others, such as the pirate Blackbeard, inspired fear as they "claimed" their fortunes on the high seas.  When, in 1800, all surface areas of the ocean had been explored, scientists turned their gaze to the deepest recesses of the sea.  There they discovered thousands of species of plants and   animals.  The sea is our planet's largest source of food, fuel, and     energy.  It holds the very key to life for ocean creatures and people alike.

Higgins Bond's spectacular illustrations capture in living color the breathtaking power of the sea and all its inhabitants.

November, 2005      ISBN 0-8027-8943-9

The mighty Mississippi River travels a long, twisted journey 2,550 miles from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico.  Its enormous watershed drains 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces and is one of the world's largest drainage basins.

As it has done for thousands upon thousands of years, the flowing river adds tons of sediment every year to debris washed downriver from faraway mountain steams.  Nutrient-rich deposits are carried by the current to fertile lowlands of the Mississippi River Delta, which encompasses 12,000 square miles from Memphis, Tennessee, to New Orleans, Louisiana.  Thousands more miles of the delta lie underwater in the Gulf of Mexico.

Robert Cavalier de La Salle traveled south along the Mississippi from French Canada, reaching its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico in 1682. More than 150 years later, land-hungry settlers poured across the river to settle the new United States of America.

Travel the river and see into its past as a gateway to the vast western reaches of our country.