Monica Wyrick – illustratör

A realistic guide and colorful story about the coastal art and sport of crabbing

Crabbing is a story about young boys learning from their grandfather about the coastal tradition of catching crabs during an eventful day on a saltwater creek. Tilda Balsley''s realistic yet poetic depictions coupled with Monica Wyrick''s beautiful watercolor illustrations provide a glimpse into the diversity of life along the backwaters of the lowcountry. Crabbing is an intriguing "how-to" for children and evokes nostalgic reminders for readersof any age who have enjoyed the challenge of catching blue crabs.

Following the story, additional material providesparents and teachers with educational information about blue crabs as well as other lowcountry wildlife including pelicans, cordgrass, dolphins, grasshoppers, and Spanish moss and about habitat protection. To round out the blue crab experience, a delicious crab cake recipe, simple enough for children to make, is included as well.

The fascinating tale of the long-missing submarine that was the first to sink an enemy ship during wartime

The story of the H. L. Hunley submarine is about American ingenuity and real people who were inventive, loyal, brave, resilient, persistent, and adventurous. The Hunley, built by the Confederate Army during the Civil War, was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship during wartime. After that historic feat, the Hunley disappeared.

For more than a century, the fate and location of the Confederate submarine remained unknown. In The H. L. Hunley Submarine, Fran Hawk tells the exciting and compelling tale of how the "fish boat" was invented, how it underwent trials and tribulations in war, and how it got from the bottom of the ocean to its current resting place in the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Who invented the H. L. Hunley? How did it operate without an engine? How and why did it sink? What did researchers find when they investigated the submarine? Archaeologists and conservationists from all over the world have studied the historic vessel in search of answers. Which mysteries have they solved,and which mysteries remain for future generations to answer?

The story of the extraordinary life and art of a renowned female sculptor of realistic animal statues

Dreaming with Animals is the first children''s biography of celebrated sculptor and Brookgreen Gardens cofounder Anna Hyatt Huntington. Her remarkable life serves as an inspiration not only because of the greatness of her art but also because of her courage and perseverance. L. Kerr Dunn highlights how Anna overcame society''s expectations of women and survived a life-threatening illness to become a prolific sculptor and an important benefactor of art and wildlife until her death at age ninety-seven.

As a young woman, Anna moved to New York City at a time when American women of her class rarely lived alone or worked outside the home. Although she studied briefly under famous sculptors, she soon felt restless and left art school and began to teach herself to sculpt animals by watching them closely, trying to see the animal''s true spirit and then representing that spirit in her work. Over time Anna established herself as an important animalier, an artist specializing in realistic portrayals of animals. By 1915 she was one of only ten American women artists earning enough money from the sales of her art to support herself. Later, with her husband, Archer Huntington, Anna founded South Carolina sculpture garden and wildlife preserve Brookgreen Gardens, the country''s first public sculpture garden and the world''s largest collection of figurative sculpture by American artists in an outdoor setting.

This biography provides engaging details of Anna''s life, such as her tendency as a child to lie in pastures studying horses; her travels around the country with her husband in a trailer full of monkeys, dogs, and birds; and the couple''s purchase of a zoo. In Dreaming with Animals, Dunn has provided us with an affecting portrait of a strong, capable, talented, and innovative woman

Robin R. Salmon, vice president for collections and curator of sculpture at Brookgreen Gardens, provides a foreword.