Paddle-to-the-Sea is a most wonderful book by Holling Clancy Holling. Yes, that is the right name...two Hollings! I was introduced to this fantastic author about 13 years ago when I made a trip to Connecticut. I was fortunate to stay with another homeschool family and, of course, we discussed books. Her house was as full of them as mine. I asked her which were some of her favorites (a question I often ask homeschool families). She told me if she could choose only four books they would be: Paddle-to-the-Sea, Minn of the Mississippi, Seabird, and Pagoo. All of these books share the same author, Holling Clancy Holling.
I looked at the books and was immediately captivated by them. I purchased all four of them while still on my trip. Later, I found that he has other books as well, and Tree in the Trail must be added to this first group.
Paddle-to-the-Sea is the delightful story of an Indian boy who wishes to take a journey, but recognizes that he is yet too young to do so. He carves a wooden canoe with an Indian passenger. On the bottom he carefully carves these words: "Please put me back in water, I am Paddle to the Sea."
He places the canoe into the snow that will take it during the melting of spring to a river that leads into Lake Superior. From there we follow the canoe on its journey as it travels all of the Great Lakes and eventually out to sea by way of the St. Lawrence River. Where it ends up is part of the story you must discover for yourself.
Every other page is a picture...full page in beautiful colors. Also, you will discover wonderful sketches around the margins of the text. The other books are equally enchanting and informative.
Minn of the Mississippi - follow the life and travels down the Mississippi River with a snapping turtle.
Seabird - learn about whaling, ivory carving and shipping.
Pagoo - a hermit crab and life in tide pools is explored.
Tree in the Trail - the tree "sees history" in the people that pass by.
Each of these wonderful books is a UNIT STUDY waiting to happen. Don't miss a one of them.
NOTE: As a Christian, I do not believe in evolution. I believe that God created the earth in a literal six days and rested on the seventh. For those of you who want to know about this kind of thing ahead of time, there are few evolutionary statements in the first couple of pages of Minn of the Mississippi. I used this opportunity to explain the "theory of evolution" and its fallacy to my children. There is not much, and I would not avoid the book for that reason.
