God, Lakes and Canoes

Lakes are one of the most amazing and beautiful of nature’s wonders. They serve as homes to an astounding number of living creatures that can live nowhere else on Earth. Many lakes also provide us with a natural source of fresh drinking water.

This book explains to young readers how to enjoy the natural wonders of our lakes without damaging their fragile beauty. The canoe, which has been around for at least a thousand years in one form or another, is a non-polluting, non-threatening alternative to noisier gasoline powered boats.

Many of our world’s magnificent lakes exist under the constant threat of destruction from pollution and urban development. Even more unfortunate is the sad revelation that many of our most beautiful lakes are being overused for recreational purposes.

Canoes force us to slow down and appreciate the natural wonder of God’s wondrous lakes without leaving our mark upon them. They provide us with the ideal way to have leisure time fun on a lake without spoiling what nature took eons to perfect.   

Young readers will take pleasure in discovering how the calming, yet stimulating pastime of canoeing could add a rewarding element to their sometimes turbulent lives. 

Sal Bonsangue has been a middle school life science teacher and science curriculum writer for over 30 years. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts, Design and Education from Southampton College of Long Island University. Sal later earned a Masters degree in Fine Arts and Design from Kean University and became accredited in biology from the State of New York.

In his spare time Sal has been a part time photojournalist and writer for local newspapers as well as a freelance professional photographer. He is also an award winning nature and wildlife artist who exhibits his colored pencil drawings at local art shows. His illustrations and photography appear in this book.

Ever since his early teens when he was a Boy Scout, Sal has been an avid canoeist and naturalist. He especially enjoys canoeing and exploring the lakes of New York’s Adirondacks in the summer. During the summers of his early teaching years, Sal hiked and canoed many of the lakes and streams of Northern Ontario, Canada, including two of the Great Lakes, Superior and Huron.

The author introduced his own son Daniel to the wonders of canoeing when he was three, and able to properly wear a Coast Guard approved, Winnie-The-Pooh life vest.