Dream Flights on Arctic Nights


Book Description

Follow a child's dreamy flight through the Arctic and discover the animals that live there, from the wolves prowling through the snow to the goats and sheep leaping across mountains, to walrus and sea lions lying on icebergs. Children's Book Review, Best Picture Books of 2019 "Dramatic rhythm, matched by spectacular linocut illustrations with black backgrounds, glowing colors, and exaggerated perspectives that suggest a surreal dream world. The child has beige skin and dark hair and eyes. The setting is indicated by the title and arctic wildlife and by a simple map of the Arctic Ocean on the wall of the child's cozy bedroom. This stunning interpretation of a fascinating region soars with polished poetry and striking, memorable art." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review "The deep desire to fly inspires a child's Alaskan dream in this lushly illustrated rhyming book. . . The simple rhymes match well with the linocut illustrations by Zerbetz, whose thick lines give dimension to colorful stars and beasts. The images seem to leap from the page." —WSU Magazine At night, just as the moon climbs high, I make a wish that I could fly. Told in singsong rhymes and colorfully illustrated with gorgeous linocut art, Dream Flights on Arctic Nights is a beautiful bedtime story for children to explore the Arctic before drifting off to sleep.




Ten Rowdy Ravens


Book Description

This fun ""countdown from 10"" book features the rowdy and mischievous shananigans of the popular raven. They steal pretty pearls, picnic in a pickup truck, and perform dizzy loop-de-loops. Scenarios are fanciful but rooted in ravenhood: collecting shiny things, testing curious objects, getting into the garbage, and showing off.




Skyfaring


Book Description

A poetic and nuanced exploration of the human experience of flight that reminds us of the full imaginative weight of our most ordinary journeys—and reawakens our capacity to be amazed. The twenty-first century has relegated airplane flight—a once remarkable feat of human ingenuity—to the realm of the mundane. Mark Vanhoenacker, a 747 pilot who left academia and a career in the business world to pursue his childhood dream of flight, asks us to reimagine what we—both as pilots and as passengers—are actually doing when we enter the world between departure and discovery. In a seamless fusion of history, politics, geography, meteorology, ecology, family, and physics, Vanhoenacker vaults across geographical and cultural boundaries; above mountains, oceans, and deserts; through snow, wind, and rain, renewing a simultaneously humbling and almost superhuman activity that affords us unparalleled perspectives on the planet we inhabit and the communities we form.




The Littlest Airplane


Book Description

A rhyming picture book about how sometimes it’s not the biggest, strongest, or the fastest, but the littlest who can get the job done! "Charming, entertaining, and original, The Littlest Airplane is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 4-7." —Midwest Book Review "This is a really cute story about a plane that is smaller than all the others. He feels inferior because he can’t do what the big planes can. But when people get stuck in a storm and call for help, the big planes are too big to land to rescue the people, the little plane can reach them and he saves them. The illustrations were cute; I love the expressiveness of the planes. . . 4 stars." —Youth Services Book Review "The text clearly stands out against Joseph's wonderful illustrations, which work in tandem with the text to convey exactly what's happening in the story. These scenes are big and colorful, making it easy to see all aspects of the picture, even from a distance—perfect for story hours. . . Altogether, Hartman has created another wonderful ride of a story. A great rhyming read aloud for little learners to introduce different types of planes and spot light the oft-forgotten bush plane." —School Library Journal "The story told in lilting rhyming text is brought to life in colorful illustrations featuring personified airplanes with expressive faces and beautiful Alaskan scenery. Facts about bush planes and a labeled diagram of a plane appear in the back pages. Young children identify with being small and wanting to be important. They will recognize this story as a good companion to The Little Engine That Could." —Children's Literature Comprehensive Database “Alaska Northwest Books wings into spring with... The Littlest Airplane by Brooke Hartman, illus. by John Joseph, in which a storm necessitates calling a mighty little bush plane to rescue people stuck on a mountain in the snow.” —Publishers Weekly, Spring 2022 Children’s Sneak Previews At a landing strip in the far north, a little bush plane watches quietly as bigger, stronger, faster planes take off for adventure. But when a storm hits and hikers are stranded on the mountain, who will come to the rescue? Told in rhyming verse with bright illustrations, The Littlest Airplane soars high with heart and excitement.




Lucky Hares and Itchy Bears


Book Description

A collection of fifteen poems each of which describes an intriguing, unusual, or fun fact about a northern animal including the caribou, snowshoe hare, and wolf.




All Aboard the Alaska Train


Book Description

Toot toot! Come aboard the Alaska Train for a rollicking rhyming adventure with Alaska’s favorite animals! Five shiny train cars roll down the railroad track, picking up passengers along the way—a porcupine, grizzly bear, caribou, and more. Soon the cars are packed, but now the train must go up a tall mountain. Will the Alaska Train reach its destination? All Aboard the Alaska Train takes you on a rumbling journey as you zoom across the tracks and meet some of the state’s most famous animal residents. Included at the back is a glossary of the parts of a train, plus more information about the famous Alaska Train and a map of its route.




Alaska is for the Birds!


Book Description

Playfully told in quick, witty verses and illustrated with gorgeously colored linocut art, Alaska is for the Birds! features 14 feathered friends found across Alaska. "The book features Zerbetz's signature bold, colorful prints of 14 birds alongside Ewing's playful poems about each bird." —Ketchikan Daily News "Fourteen Alaskan birds come to life in this exquisite book. . . Ewing, an experienced author of naturalist topics, weaves the poems into melodic informational texts. Paired with fellow Alaskan Zerbetz, the two create an attractive view of their local wildlife. The lino-cut art is bright and enhances the personality of each bird. A handsome spotlight on these feathered friends, this is recommended for nonfiction collections and fans of wildlife." —School Library Journal "Fourteen Alaskan birds each get their own vividly colored linocut print and a jaunty set of 5 rhyming couplets describing the animal’s physiology, habitat, food, and behavior. . . Each double page spread is attractively designed, with the bird taking up one entire page and the poem facing from the other side. . . Back matter includes a detailed paragraph on each bird, along with their scientific name and whether they are a migrant or year-round resident. A glossary of bird words rounds out this offering, along with decorative endpapers showing silhouettes of children observing birds." —Youth Services Book Review “Alaska Northwest Books wings into spring with Alaska Is for the Birds by Susan Ewing, illus. by Evon Zerbetz, serving up nature poems and woodcut art showcasing 14 birds found across this state.” —Publishers Weekly, Spring 2022 Children’s Sneak Previews Get a bird's-eye view of Alaska from forest treetops to open sea with Great Horned Owl, Tufted Puffin, Arctic Tern, and more in this playful celebration of northern birds. Written in witty verse and illustrated with gorgeous linocut art, Alaska is for the Birds! is a fun and informative treasure.




The Purple Cloud


Book Description

"If now a swell from the Deep has swept over this planetary ship of earth, and I, who alone chanced to find myself in the furthest stern, as the sole survivor of her crew... What then, my God, shall I do?." The Purple Cloud is widely hailed as a masterpiece of science fiction and one of the best "last man" novels ever written. A deadly purple vapor passes over the world and annihilates all living creatures except one man, Adam Jeffson. He embarks on an epic journey across a silent and devastated planet, an apocalyptic Robinson Crusoe putting together the semblance of a normal life from the flotsam and jetsam of his former existence. As he descends into madness over the years, he becomes increasingly aware that his survival was no accident and that his destiny - and the fate of the human race - are part of a profound, cosmological plan.




The Purple Cloud


Book Description

Sheil's free-flowing and persuasive style of writing produces a convincing portrait of Adam Jefferson -- a man who, upon returning alone from an expedition to the North Pole, learns that a world-wide catastrophe has left him the last man on Earth.




The Reluctant Pilgrim


Book Description

Forty years ago, while paging through a book sent as an unexpected gift from a friend, Roger Welsch came across a curious reference to stones that were round, “like the sun and moon.” According to Tatonka-ohitka, Brave Buffalo (Sioux), these stones were sacred. “I make my request of the stones and they are my intercessors,” Brave Buffalo explained. Moments later, another friend appeared at Welsch’s door bearing yet another unusual gift: a perfectly round white stone found on top of a mesa in Colorado. So began Welsch’s lesson from stones, gifts that always presented themselves unexpectedly: during a walk, set aside in an antique store, and in the mail from complete strangers. The Reluctant Pilgrim shares a skeptic’s spiritual journey from his Lutheran upbringing to the Native sensibilities of his adoptive families in both the Omaha and Pawnee tribes. Beginning with those round stones, increasing encounters during his life prompted Welsch to confront a new way of learning and teaching as he was drawn inexorably into another world. Confronting mainstream contemporary culture’s tendency to dismiss the magical, mystical, and unexplained, Welsch shares his personal experiences and celebrates the fact that even in our scientific world, “Something Is Going On,” just beyond our ken.