U GOTTA READ THIS `TEDDY' A WARM, FUZZY WAY TO TRAVEL.Byline: -- Valerie Kuklenski Several years ago, Tony Rizzi of Altadena was visiting Grand Canyon Grand Canyon, great gorge of the Colorado River, one of the natural wonders of the world; c.1 mi (1.6 km) deep, from 4 to 18 mi (6.4–29 km) wide, and 217 mi (349 km) long, NW Ariz. National Park and watched as parents grouped their children by the entrance sign for a family photo. ``Since I didn't have any children, I decided to photograph my great friend Tedrick De Bear,'' he said, referring to a fluffy stuffed animal who joined him on his trip. ``That was the beginning of a lifelong obsession,'' Rizzi said. ``I take pictures of Teddy as I travel across the U.S., visiting as many national parks This is a list of national parks ordered by nation. Africa
He has compiled those images in a new family-friendly book, ``Teddy's Travels: America's National Parks.'' Sensing that many kids he encountered felt dragged along on park vacations, he wanted to get them as excited about such trips as he always has been. Since it is written from the bear's point of view, Tedrick shares the author credit. ``Teddy's Travels'' is a sturdy, spiral-bound book that groups the parks by region, with descriptions, maps and color photos, as well as open pages for pasting your own photos and postcards and collecting park stamps. The end of the book has a journal section that encourages readers to note memories of their ventures, as Teddy calls them. Throughout the book there are quizzes on geography and geology terms that park visitors can pick up from reading signs or taking guided hikes. There are also little lessons such as ``Remember: Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but paw (tool) PAW - Physics Analysis Workbench. prints.'' Each regional section has a roster of all of its national parks, monuments and historic sites, with paw prints marking the ones described in the book. (For the West, they're Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park (yōsĕm`ĭtē), 761,266 acres (308,205 hectares), E central Calif.; est. 1890 as a result of the efforts of conservationist John Muir. Located in the Sierra Nevada, it is a glacier-scoured area of great beauty; Mt. , Point Reyes National Seashore Point Reyes National Seashore (rā`ĭs), 71,068 acres (28,772 hectares), W Calif.; est. 1962. Included in the area are steep bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, lagoons, and esteros enclosed by sand dunes, rolling hills, and forests. , Muir Woods National Monument Muir Woods National Monument: see National Parks and Monuments (table). Muir Woods National Monument National woodland, northern California, U.S. , Lava Beds National Monument Lava Beds National Monument: see National Parks and Monuments (table). Lava Beds National Monument Region, northern California, U.S. It features recent lava flows and related volcanic formations, including deep chasms, chimneys, and cinder cones and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, 209,695 acres (84,926 hectares), on Hawaii island, Hawaii; est. 1916. The park contains two of the most active volcanoes in the world—Kilauea with its fire pit, called Halemaumau, and Mauna Loa with the active Mokuaweoweo crater .) Rizzi's writing style is playful and simple enough for most kids, but there's still plenty of information to hold the interest of adults reading along. Rizzi and Tedrick encourage young travelers to take their own teddies along on their vacations, and to pass along their pictures and comments in the Teddy's Cub Club section of his Web site, www.teddystravels.com, for possible inclusion in the quarterly e-mail newsletter he puts out to members. The book sells for $19.95 and is available through the Web site as well as in gift shops of selected national parks, including Yosemite and Carlsbad. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (book: ``Teddy's Travels: America's National Parks'') |
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