Based on the author's life, this story describes a time when Kristen Balouch and her family helped remedy deforestation by planting 1,000,000 trees (yes, it's true!) in British Columbia. When Kristen was 10-years-old she and her sisters came home from school one day to be told by their parents that they were going on a trip to plant trees. They flew from their home in California to British Columbia and joined a crew hired by the Canadian government to replace trees that had been cut down by loggers. They set up camp along a river and lived in a tent. Her mother was the cook, her father planted saplings with the crew, and Kristen helped them both. When they were done, everyone was covered in mud, scratches, and bug bites, but they were happy because they did it--they planted one million trees. Forty years later, Kristen took her children back to see the now grown trees at the site where so much had been accomplished all those years ago. Through an engaging text and vibrant art, we join
The heroic true story of one of the Eastern seaboard's first woman lighthouse keepers, illustrated by a Caldecott Medalist.Living in the isolated Robbins Reef Lighthouse, overlooking turn-of-the-century New York Harbor, Kate Walker spent her life minding the light, keeping passing ships from running aground on the dangerous shoals. Originally the assistant to her lighthouse keeper husband John Walker, after his death Kate convinced the Lighthouse Board that she was able to manage the hard work on her own. For more than three decades, Kate lived a solitary life, often totally isolated from the mainland by rough seas and dangerous storms. Tending to the lamps and ringing the heavy warning bell, she helped ships avert disaster-- and saved many sailors from the cold, choppy waters when disaster struck. Elizabeth Spires describes the joys and hardships of a life at sea, detailing pivotal moments in Walker's life to show her indomitable spirit, and celebrates the determination that drove Ka
