Appropriate for K-8: Weather by Brian Cosgrove is an Eye-Witness Book that uses photographs and text to depict different aspects of weather and how it is forecasted.

Appropriate for K-12: The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing is an Eye-Witness Visual Dictionary that has great pictures good for all ages.

ENDURANCE: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. This book was recommended by Rear Admiral William L. Stubblefield, the director of NOAA Corps Operations. (He is traveling with the ship to Panama and will be featured in the job link of this web site.) This book was brought on board by Lieutenant Stephen S. Meador, and is a fabulous account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's epic adventure of exploration and one of the most astonishing feats of human courage ever recorded. The object of the expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland. In October 1915 the ship was trapped and then crushed in the ice. The book describes how the men survived after a 1000-mile voyage in an open boat across the stormiest ocean on the globe. Admiral Stubblefield admires the courage and leadership abilities of Shackelton and highly recommends this and another book about this expedition called South.

Many people have recommended this book aboard ship; it's called Survive the Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson. At 10 AM on June 15, 1972, the schooner Lucette, sailed by Dougal Robertson and his family, was attacked and sunk by killer whales in the Pacific. This is the incredible true story of their fight for survival.

We have onboard ship Looking for a Ship by John McPhee, a book recommended by Candace Gudmundson, the editor and creator of this web site. This book is about one man's quest to find a boat to work on in a time of scarcity of jobs for merchant mariners. This book is about an extraordinary calling, with tales of disaster, stupidity, greed, generosity, and courage.

There is a copy of The Shipping News, a favorite of many aboard ship. This book, written by E. Annie Proulx, is about a third-rate newspaperman who is wrenched violently out of his workaday life and retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast.