Margaret C. Collier is a retired educator living in Orlando, Florida, with her husband and her springer spaniel, Carly. Her youngest son is with the army, now in Germany, and her oldest son is with the air force, living in Colorado Springs with his wife, Lindsey. Her daughter and son-in-law, Robert, are living in Pennsylvania. She holds a BA degree in art education from the Maryland Institute of Art, an MA in elementary education and special education from Marshall University and the College of Graduate Studies in Charleston, West Virginia, and an educational specialist degree in Educational Administration from the University of Florida. Travel has become her passion, and she has found the need to share this with geography students who may enjoy a more personal tribute to travel. This is the fifth book in a series of high interest, low-vocabulary-level reading books for geography that will focus on the countries, cities, and geographical regions she has seen and will see in the future.
Mary T. Cook is an educator and freelance illustrator. She holds a BS degree from the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and a master's degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her first children's book, based on a real-life experience by a family member, is titled The Moose at the Bus Stop. It was published March of 2013 by Guardian Angel Publishing, St. Louis, Missouri. Her newest book, Emma McKenna's Ice Cream Dilemma, is due out in the spring of 2014. She lives in Oveido, Florida, with her husband, two boxers and a Scottish terrier. Her daughter and her family live in Chicago, Illinois, son and daughter-in-law in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the oldest son in Oveido area.
Mrs. Collier and Mrs. Cook, former teachers of the year, have collaborated as educators for over twenty-five years, presenting national-level workshops in the infusing of the arts into social studies. Both educators are now publishing a series of high-interest social studies themed books, which address the needs of low-level readers. They have both worked for schools in Seminole County, Florida, where classes are academically and culturally diverse.
