Books with author Miriam E. Mason

Samuel Langhorne Clemens is perhaps best known by his pen name Mark Twain. He was a writer of such classic American novels as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, served as an apprentice printer, and wrote newspaper articles. Later he was a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to work as a miner. Eventually he settled on writing as a career. Mark Twain was born shortly after a visit by Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it", too. He died the day following the comet's return. Now readers can explore how his childhood influenced his life.

As an adult, John Audubon was the best known wildlife artist of the 19th century, and his book, Birds of America, is the standard against which all subsequent bird art has been measured. In this story about the artist's childhood in the West Indies and France, John's love of drawing sends him into the fields and woods near his country house in pursuit of winged models. Games and adventures also beckon: John confronts a ghost in the old water mill tower, presents his friend Cecile with a surprise birthday gift (that goes horribly wrong!), and sails off to seek his fortune in America. Special features include a summary of John's adult accomplishments, fun facts detailing little-known information about him, and a time line of his life.