River Song: With the Banana Slug String Band (Includes Music CD)

For an introduction to the water cycle or just to celebrate Earth Day, this is a book/CD combo that both pleases and informs. The author is not only an award-winning environmental educator and river guide, but also member of the well-known Banana Slug String Band. From the trickle of snowmelt to the roar of the ocean, River Song celebrates rivers as a fascinating, ever-changing source of life and joy. It also introduces the young reader to vocabulary such as eddy, riffle and meander, and tells about some of the plants, animals, and insects that depend on the river. The attached CD presents the vibrant rendition from the band.

Although Steve Van Zandt's most public persona is as "Solar," a troubadour with the Banana Slug String Band, he is a nature educator at heart. For 25 years he has been an elementary and science teacher, curriculum writer and natural science workshop presenter. He received the Howard Bell Award for Outstanding Contributions to Outdoor Education, and the Parent's Choice Award. Currently he is Principal and Site Director of San Mateo (California) Outdoor Education. He's a founding musician and songwriter for the Slugs, who have been touring for over 20 years - a remarkably successful record of bringing environmental awareness to children, and creative teaching techniques to teachers. Throughout, Steve has kept a foot in the water; he's a river rafting guide and avid surfer. He lives in Bonny Doon, California with his wife Laura and his teenage sons, Nathan, Colin and Skyler

The day after graduating from art school, Katherine was hired as a scientific illustrator and graphic artist for NOAA. Creating illustrations of seals, whales, dolphins, crab and fish for marine biologists.Katherine Zecca loves to camp with her horse in the rugged North Cascades of the Pacific Northwest, an activity that "has allowed many intimate experiences with what nature has to give," she says. She always brings a sketch book with her, drawing the things she finds. Then she creates a larger version, and finishes it with acrylic paints and colored pencils. Although some of the illustrations are stylized, she tries to keep the flora and fauna as accurate as possible. Katherine is a graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle, and lives in Snohomish, Washington.