Have you ever tried to explain the water cycle to little ones who ask where does the rain comes from? Kersten Hamilton has taken this sometimes confusing subject and made it easy for youngsters to understand, taking them through the process step by step. Her rhyming text, full of imagery and expressive detail, begins with the ocean and the bright sun that raises a mist to the sky and continues on to clouds and rain, explaining each step until the water from rivers and streams slips back into the ocean to begin the cycle all over again. Lorianne Siomades bold, colorful illustrations are charming and add just the right touch. Perfect for children 3-7, This is the Ocean is a fascinating and engaging picture book.

This is the Ocean is a readable fun journey through the water cycle. It is an excellant resource for anyone teaching the young about how water moves from the ocean to the clouds to the rivers and back to the ocean. It is written in lyric poetry, almost a song of water. The illustrations are simple, bright and engaging. I would recommend this book not only to school teachers but to all the other important teachers in a child's life.

This well-crafted account of life along the banks of this gem of a lake deserves a wider audience. Mr. Washington weaves a tale every bit as compelling as any novel. His depiction of real people and real events engage the reader instantly. The startling final chapter about the flood that, for a short time, spelled the end of Timberlake, proves riveting. If you like small, detailed histories of places, you need a copy of this hardback book on your bookshelf. It's a perfect weekend read.

This well-crafted account of life along the banks of this gem of a lake deserves a wider audience. Mr. Washington weaves a tale every bit as compelling as any novel. His depiction of real people and real events engage the reader instantly. The startling final chapter about the flood that, for a short time, spelled the end of Timberlake, proves riveting. If you like small, detailed histories of places, you need a copy of this hardback book on your bookshelf. It's a perfect weekend read.

The early summer of 1732 bring Suzette and her family to La Pointe Island on Lake Superior. The Ojibwe people camp by the French fur-trading fort on the island every summer. Suzette's mother is an Ojibwe woman. Her father is a Frenchman who works for the French fur-trading company. Ordinarily, Suzette's father would have to spend each winter in faraway Montreal, but this year there is a competition among the trappers. If Suzette's father wins, he will be able to pay off his company contract and stay with his Ojibwe family year-round. Then things get complicated. First, someone sabotages the canoe carrying Suzette and her family to the island. Her father almost losses some furs. Suzette almost drowns. Next, the competition is halted when a bale of furs is stolen from the fort. Evidence begins to point to Suzette's father as the thief. Can Suzette figure out who the real culprit is and save her father from exile? Can you figure out what's going on before Suzette?

My daughter didn't like this "History Mystery" as well as the others we have read. I think she might have been put off by the fur-trading aspect of it. The idea of men competing to see who can get the most animal skins didn't sit very well with her. On the other hand, that was a fact of life in those days. We can't ignore the past just because some aspects of it conflict with our modern sensibilities. I thought this was one of the more engaging mysteries in the series. Suzette comes across as a bit more aggressive than a girl in her circumstances might be allowed to be, but she is brave and she comes through when the chips are down. This is a good book for young readers, with all the positive aspects I've cited in my reviews of other entries in this series. I recommend it highly to kids and their parents.

The year is 1732. Twelve-year-old Suzette is a part of two worlds - her father is a French fur trapper and her mother an Ojibwe Indian. Every winter her father has to leave the family's home on Lake Superior and journey to far-off Montreal. However, if he can come up with enough money to pay off his contract, he will be allowed to remain with his family year-round. To that end, he has entered himself in a fur trapping competition; whoever traps the most pelts wins. Suzette is positive her father will win. Until the competition is sabotaged and some of the pelts stolen. What's worse, Suzette's father is the chief suspect. If Suzette doesn't find proof of her father's innocence by catching the real chief, he will be banished into the wilderness, along with his family. So with the help of her friend Gabrielle, and using her knowledge of both French and Ojibwe ways, she determines to find the real culprit. I highly reccomend this excellant addition to the series.

Just finished reading this book. Maybe it's because I'm an engineer, but I loved Rychkun's logical approach to finding and catching fish. This book pulled all the generalities I'd heard together (fish on a slack tide, fish early in the morning, fish at creek mouths, fish deep when it's hot etc) into a practical method to attack the spot you are fishing. It backs up the method with the scientific reasoning for each strategy.

Without giving away too much of the book, most fish behaviour is driven by the following priorities:
- they need to find the correct temperature of water
- they need to find enough oxygen to breathe
- they need to find food
- they need to avoid predators and harsh elements
- they need to reproduce.

The theme of the book is that if you understand where in the water the fish are most likely to satisfy as many of the above needs, then this area will statistically have more fish, and hence statistically speaking you should catch more. It's not a guarantee - we all know there's no such thing in fishing - but I'm convinced it will increase your chances.

Overall a very informative and readable book. I didn't like the way the short 'On the Water' stories were written, as the dialogue in them seemed to be too technical to be 'verbal' - but this is a small point. I give a hearty recommendation for this book.

The book reminds me a little of a Ben Hogan?? quote when a reporter commented that he seemed to have more than his fair share of luck. Hogan replied "Funnily enough, the more I practice, the luckier I get". I'm hoping that after reading this book and applying the principles I'm a luckier angler....

I'm just starting out fishing and I own a boat. This book did a great job of explaining how and where to troll on a lake. It also described a good process for locating fish on a lake. Finally, it was easy to read, fairly short, and to the point.

If you're bank or fly fishing (i.e. not trolling), I'd probably get a different book. While you can still get good information about location, fish behavior, etc, you'd probably get frustrated with all the trolling specific content.

The only question the writers didn't answer is how they got their wifes to agree to so much fishing. Now that would have been a secret worth sharing... Great job on the book guys.

Mr. Boyer tells a lively story and weaves his interest throughout this work. The tragedies of days gone by are beautifully written in this highly entertaining book.

As one who enjoys sailing on Lake Erie as often as possible, I can only hope I never succumb to the horrors of those since past! These stories are both captivating and thought provoking.

Dwight brings the history of Great Lakes shipping to life in this book. His reseach has uncovered many long-forgotten adventures and tragedies of an earlier era. The author is also a great story teller, so the reading is entertaining aswell as being historically based.

Mr. Bak provides the reader with an insightfull, yet entertaining historical account of a segment of Americana that is too often over looked. A must read for diehard baseball fans, or anyone sincerely interested in either the history of Detroit in general or of baseball in Detroit.

I am Turkey Stearnes' oldest daughter and I think that the book clearly shows that these guys were very great and my dad was the greatest of all time and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. This book helps to give him the recognition that he so justly deserves. I'm sorry that he is not here to see all that is happening with the Negro League players. This has been a long time coming. Thank You Mr. Bak.

My daughter just had a birthday last week, and so my brother sent her some books. One of them was "Under the Sea" and the other was "Under the Ground". They are both being enjoyed by my kids (5 and 3) and me! They aren't very long, but they are VERY CLEVER. Every two-page spread has information and drawings on one side, and then a plastic page on top of a black page on the other. You punch out a paper 'flashlight' that is located in the back of the book, slide it under the plastic and are then able to see/highlight what is hidden underneath. We've been looking at them daily and are happy to have them.

I was amazed at how my two and a half year old was totally taken by this book. The concept so simple but so very effective. The flashlight is a definate asset. The animal descriptions are short and concise and the pictures are just perfect.

.

For any child who is developing an interest in the marine life sciences this is the book for them.

"Under the Sea" is well structured and logically laid out. It starts with the physical environment of the oceans. The main part of the book is a systematic coverage of the various marine environments that are classified according to their depth and temperature. . The characteristic biotas that occupy each ecological niche are well described.

Some readers may find this approach formulaic but a rigorous scientific methodology is necessary if the information it contains is to be comprehensible and of real value.

The illustrations accompanying the text are bright, accurate but definitely not garish. The pictures and their captions provide good support to the text.

This book is an ideal companion to another book by the "Nature Company Discoveries" title "Mammals" which is edited by George McKay

This book provides an ideal launching pad for those children who are keen to learn about the natural world. This book is definitely out of the ordinary.

.

This book is very educational, no matter how old you are. I am a student at UWF and I used this book as part of my sea life lesson plan. The children loved looking at the bright illustrations. I recommend it to everyone.

A must have if you are planning to fish for trout in Wisconsin or Minnesota. Well organized. Color pictures of flies along with recipes and how to fish them. What else could you want.

Pulling 40 years worth of observation and fishing experience Ross Mueller has written a practical and useful book. It contains over 100 fly patterns that will catch trout in the Upper-Midwest. This is a MUST have book for anyone that plans to fish the area. Not only do you read about what flies to use, but also how to tie them and HOW to fish them!

I live just a few miles from Oxford, Ohio and Miami University, where Dr. Green does his work when he's not away from civilization, and have sailed or swam many times at Acton Lake, which he uses in an early chapter to introduce the science of limnology, or the study of lakes.

This is a complex and ambitious book, and the result is thoroughly engrossing. It is an introduction to lake science, an adventure tale, and an account of how a scientist plans and executes his work, but these are just at the surface. It is also a personal exploration of the author's own memories and motives. Ultimately, it is a book about what moves mankind to keep learning and exploring, presented using the author as his own example.

Wondering about the powerful emotional draw that Antarctica exerts on him, the author is reminded of his boyhood, when Great Lakes winter storms would transform his town's landscape with a featureless cover of snow, allowing him to explore what became, in his imagination, an unexplored land. He describes the beauty that can be found, if one will allow himself, in the terrifying nothingness of the universe, whether it be seen in the vast coldness of space or the inhuman bleakness of an ice-covered continent. Some of his colleagues found Antactica intolerable, probably for the same reasons. He writes...

"The ice seemed a reminder of the universe at large, of the universe as accident, as matter blown and strewn and expanding, 'heartless' as Melville had described it, all moon-filled and dry, hung with poisoned worlds, incinerating stars, vacuums of frozen light. Loneliness, the warm sun as memory, as myth, the blankness of white landscape, in which we see no trace of ourselves, no artifact of our genius and cunning...". Reading this, I was taken back to my own boyhood to find my love of exploration awakened as I stood studying the cold and vastly distant stars from by back yard, and felt the fearful thrill of being sucked upward into the eternal void...

As a classicist and poet, I am shy - if not wary - of "hard science". I stumbled upon this book by accident, browsing the non-fiction shelves in the public library. It is unique! I have ordered it - and I'm not even quite finished with it - I am reluctant to finish this first reading, although it is five-star enjoyment. Water Ice and Stone is a "braided river" (read it and you'll see why the phrase is in quotation marks) of a) Green's personal passion for his field and his subject that took him to the Antarctic lakes again and again; b) scientific explanations of that field that are accessible and fascinating without being either patronizing or unscholarly; c)the personal reminiscences and experiences that led to his choice of profession and to the Anarctic; d) the daily observations, colleagues and acts of living while he was there; and e) the beauty and wonder and astonishment and inspiration that this world we live in has to offer any of us who will take the time to look, to understand, to see. The book is science and it is poetry; it is wonder and it is analysis; it is a marvel. My highest acolade for books in fields that I did NOT take up is: it makes me almost wish I had become a.... Water, Ice and Stone left me an almost-geochemist.