Hello, National Parks!, USA, Hello, Board Book

Hello, National Parks!, USA, Hello, Board Book Welcome to the National Park! Parent and child eagles visit America’s national parks and public lands in children’s author-illustrator Martha Day Zschock’s latest board book Hello, National Parks! Packed with details for the youngest travelers, the book takes little readers from the Statue of Liberty in the east to the Golden Gate in the west, from the Grand Canyon to Cape Cod National Seashore to the Everglades and to Hawaii Volcanoes. Along the way, budding Junior Rangers will begin to develop an appreciation for our country’s history, animals, and beauty! For ages 2-5. Made in the USA.

Smokey the Bear Sutra, USA, American Roots, Hardback

Smokey the Bear Sutra, USA, American Roots, Hardback An impassioned poem with Buddhist imagery and messages of environmentalism, social justice, and enlightenment. Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Gary Snyder composed « Smokey the Bear Sutra » one spring night in 1969 at a Sierra Club conference. Smokey the Bear is not the U.S. Forest Service’s Smokey Bear, the latter being a highly recognized advertising symbol protected by Federal law. Rather, the imagery of this Smokey comes from Buddhism; according to Snyder, Smokey the Bear Sutra is a dharma protector, modeled after Fugo, the Japanese patron of ascetics and yogis. The message of the Sutra is that we as beings are responsible to protect all other life down to the smallest forms– do no harm, protect our collective selves, and honor the great impermanence. This short work is part of Applewood’s « American Roots » series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America’s most famous writers.