We have an exciting new sponsor this week! Irene Brady of Nature Works Press has graciously offered two autographed copies of her incredible book, The Redrock Canyon Explorer. But first, a little background on the artist - plus you can read a full bio on the website, "Irene Brady currently teaches college-level scientific illustration at Southern Oregon University, and has led illustration and sketching workshops for both adults and children. Award-winning author and illustrator of ten nature books (published by Houghton Mifflin, Scribners and others) and numerous nature articles (in Ranger Rick, Cricket, Mushroom, and Audubon Magazine, etc.), her work has been praised by The New York Academy of Sciences, the National Science Teachers Association, the Children's Book Council, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others." Ms. Brady is also available for sketching workshops - see what she offers!

More info about the Featured Prize this week:

"Here's a fascinating fact/fiction book for all ages, about canyon life of the Southwest. Illustrated with more than 280 drawings, you will see this redrock canyon from the viewpoint of the wildlife as they go about their everyday lives.

Beginning with a coyote carrying home dinner to its family, you trot down the canyon trail, watched by a mother vulture keeping her eggs warm in a nearby cave. One of the eggs is hatching, and you watch as the chick emerges.... 

Here's a peek at two facing pages (it's a PDF file -- 385KB)

The illustrated story reads like good fiction, following the lives of the mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and plants and their closely interconnected lives in a desert canyon. You'll experience a flash flood through the eyes of a desert cottontail and drink at the canyon potholes with a mule deer. Feed your owl chicks in an Ancient Puebloan dwelling, and protect your spider eggs in an old cracked Anasazi cooking pot.

You'll experience what an ordinary day is like for forty-three different creatures, from mourning dove and canyon wren to bighorn sheep and mountain lion, as well as such oddities as spadefoot toad, collared lizard, kangaroo rat and yucca moth.

Illustrations show everything from tracks and skulls and animal behavior to petrified sand dunes and dinosaur footprints. You'll find maps and the geology of all the popular parks and monuments; hiking and camping advice; and an entertaining, low-impact Things-To-Do section. A table of contents and an extensive index make it quick and easy to look things up."

Here are some other items available at Nature Works Press - Wild Babies, New Zealand Trek, The Redrock Canyon Explorer, The Beaver Year, Owlet, Animal Babysitters and Elephants on the Beach. There is also a complete list of books written by Ms. Brady available. For more information on any of these titles, visit Nature Works Press! In addition, Ms. Brady has written five Camper's Guides that are available for purchase. Each one is about an animal commonly found in the forest - you can view the titles on her site.

A new title will be available sometime in 2007, too. The Southern Swamp Explorer has nine sample pages now for viewing (Adobe required). So, if you are thinking of adding some art instruction to your homeschool, seriously consider purchasing Illustrating Nature ... shipping is even free and you can request it to be autographed to your child!