Author, Dr. Carol Graham is a National Board Certified Reading and Language Arts Teacher Specialist, who worked for many years as an elementary teacher and principal in West Virginia. She is currently a teacher in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and lives in the awe-inspiring mountains overlooking Lake Coeur d' Alene. Dr. Graham grew up on beautiful Echo Ranch, near Kalispell, Montana, which provided many childhood and adult experiences in the rugged northwestern Rocky Mountains. She fondly remembers riding her registered quarter horse, "Whimper Duke," herding cattle hundreds of miles throughout the thickly forested, unfenced open range, encountering crystal clear blue lakes, and crossing frigid mountain streams. Later, she attended Montana State University to attain her degree in teaching, then continued on to obtain master's and doctorate degrees. As a teacher in Idaho, her interactions with children, teachers, parents, and administrators throughout the state, as well as her wealth of experiences from the state of West Virginia and her childhood memories, provide the setting and backdrop for the poems found in this book, and her children's books and illustrations.