This is Amy Wagenaar from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. In 1938, Michigan author Holling Clancy. Holling watched a wood chip drifting on Lake Superior. It gave him an idea. That idea became one of the most beloved children's books in history. Howling was born in 1900 in Jackson County, Michigan. When he was 12 years old, his father bought him a notebook and encouraged his son to use it for original compositions and illustrations. Howling would thereafter fill notebooks with sketches and writings. Howling wanted to experience things firsthand, so while still a teenager, he worked for two summers as a crewman on a Great Lakes freighter. The ship's route took it through the Soo Locks, across Lake Superior to Duluth, and then back down to Detroit. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago. His education gave him technical expertise, but his life experiences gave him inspiration for a book. As a child, he had been fascinated by Native American lore and the outdoors. As a youth, he built his own canoe and paddled it around Pleasant Lake in Jackson County. While studying at the Art Institute, he canoed up Lake Michigan from Chicago to the Upper Peninsula. From there, he continued up the Whitefish river and portaged into Lake Superior, then followed the lake to a river that led to Nipigon, Ontario. In the late 1930s, Holling and his wife traveled around the country to gather ideas for children's books. Howling thought of a book about the Missouri River. Then, while fishing in Lake Superior, he saw that floating wood chip. A little while later, he met an Ojibwe woman selling birch bark baskets. Holling shared some Native American designs with her, and in gratitude, she gave him a carving of a Native American in a canoe. Howling's book idea changed. The story became that of a wooden Native American in a canoe carved by an Ojibwe boy from Ontario. The boy released his canoe into a river that carried it into Lake Superior. Like the book's author, the canoe sailed all over the Great Lakes. After many adventures, including surviving a forest fire and a plunge over Niagara Falls, it at last reached the Atlantic Ocean. The book, published in 1941, became a Caldecott Honor Book, and it taught history, science, and geography. Holling filled his book with lavish color illustrations. It also included maps that allowed young readers to follow the canoe's progress through the Great Lakes. Howling's book remains in print today. The title, Paddle to the Sea this Michigan History Moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.