This book will put you right in the Bahamas with its amazing illustrations

The book Visit To The Bahamas From A to Z is a book your kids will enjoy, and you will too. It’s a book you will read a lot, enjoying the amazing illustrations.

As you marvel at and enjoy the illustrations, you will learn a lot about the Bahamas, from the 663 foot deep Dean’s Blue Hole to the Island of Eleuthera’s delicious and famous pineapples. And you’ll want to jump in the ocean with the boys to swim with the dolphins.

Of course, I also found the info on Nassau’s grouper, their favorite fish, to be very interesting. I want to catch one! I definitely want to participate in the Wahoo fishing tournament. Wahoo!

Three kids, Vanessa, Andrew, and Evan, lead us through the Bahamas. And you’ll want to join them for the Junkanoo Festival, which is celebrated twice a year, starting at midnight when people parade in colorful costumes. The beaches looked pretty inviting too. And as a lover of lighthouses, I definitely want to see the Elbow Reef Lighthouse built in 1864.

There’s also some of the island’s interesting history, including construction of the 66 step Queen’s Staircase. And did you know the Bahamas has an underwater canyon where depths run from 3,000 to 6,000 feet?

Well, I’ve only mentioned a few of the many interesting pages of information, and I’m assuming author Veronica McFall spent a lot of time researching all this information. I hope she spent part of that time in the Bahamas. Veronica has 25 years of experience in K-12 and higher education, and hopes this book, her first, will encourage youth travel. She lives in New Jersey.

RJ Jenkins, who produced the amazing illustrations, is a visual arts teacher and basketball, track and cross country coach at Kents Hill school in Readfield, Maine. I know RJ, who has a passion for helping young people realize their creative talents. This is RJ’s first book, but based on the fantastic job he did, I’m sure he’ll be swamped with requests from writers to do the illustrations for their books.

Of course, RJ and Veronica may already be working on their next book. I sure hope so!

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.