NUMBERS IN A ROW: AN IOWA NUMBER

There is more to love about Iowa than cornfields and livestock. It's true there are five pigs for every citizen in Iowa, but it is also home to the ice cream capital of the world and the place where trampolines were invented. Explore Iowa and find the National Farm Toy Museum, the Bily Clocks Museum and Snake Alley, the world's "crookedest" street. The birthplace of Eskimo Pies and bandleader Glenn Miller, Iowa is also where Ringling Brothers Circus got started under a clothesline tent. Red Delicious apples were invented by a farmer from Iowa, and the very first game of six-on-six girls basketball was played there, too. With lively text, engaging rhymes and appealing illustrations, Numbers in a Row makes the history of this great state real and relevant to children everywhere.

Patricia A. Pierce, M.Ed., grew up on a farm in West Bend and graduated from Loras College, Dubuque. Patricia began her writing career as coauthor of "News Clues," an educational column for the Newmnan Times Herald and by writing testing material for the Psychological Corporation of Harcourt Brace. As an educator and author, Patricia also combines her creative talent and writing skills to create literature-based teachers' guides. She currently lives in rural Indiana with her husband John and two sons, Jared and Andrew.

Dorothia Rohner is known for her botanical and nature paintings. She developed her love for observing and drawing nature while growing up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. She earned her degree in biological premedical illustration from Iowa State University. Her illustrations have appeared in garden, science, and children's publications. Her first picture book, Effie's Image, won Learning Magazine's 2006 Teachers Choice Award.

She enjoys sharing her knowledge of art and nature with children and educators. She has two grown sons, Caleb and Winston, and lives with her husband Homer in rural Iowa.