About Sarah Harper
Sarah has always enjoyed teaching and travel! In her first book series, Sarah combines these two passions, creating a new style of travel for those looking for something new and exciting. Sarah is a second-generation homeschooler and is married to her college love, Jonathan, who she originally met in her homeschool co-op. Sarah and Jonathan now live in central Ohio with their three boys and two dogs on the family farm. In addition to teaching her boys and traveling with the family, Sarah enjoys playing piano, horseback riding, and relaxing by the campfire.
About Have Books, Will Travel
Have Books, Will Travel was born the day I discovered that my state had a National Park that I knew nothing about. I had recently fallen in love with several National Parks outside of Ohio, but somehow I had missed that Ohio boasts a National Park of its own. I wanted to see what made this park special. So, as many people do today, I turned to the internet to find some answers.
My search produced many resources about Ohio canals, including a book titled Silver Ribbon Skinny. The book follows a 12-year-old boy named Skinny and his large family as they work on the Ohio and Erie Canal. This fun and family-friendly book was exactly what I was looking for. It was both engaging and educational. Here was the perfect book to help us better understand our vacation destination! So, every night at bedtime my husband and I took turns reading a couple of chapters to our young boys. Together we joined Skinny on his adventures, and by the end of the book we felt like we were ready to go on an adventure of our own.
Silver Ribbon Skinny opened our eyes to the world of canals and encouraged us to turn our simple two-day vacation into quite the adventure! Instead of just walking the bike trail and skimming the gift shop, we pretended to be canal boat captains in a model canal boat and saw how locks work. We also visited the museum and learned why the canals were vital to both Ohio and U.S. history. Finally, we walked on the very towpath Skinny walked on over 130 years before, imagining that we were helping Skinny lead his mules down the canal. Being introduced to the world of canals by Skinny made our trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park interesting and enjoyable for all of us. It wasn’t just a park, a museum, or a bike trail – it was all part of Skinny’s world, and this personal connection made it more exciting to explore!
A couple of years later, we were headed to Florida and thanks to a quick internet search I found a young adult book about a barefoot mailman, named Charlie Pierce. Charlie took my family and me on several adventures up and down Florida’s coastline and we loved every minute of it! When we visited Florida’s southeast coast we weren’t just going to the beach; instead, we were off exploring the place where Charlie found treasure washed up on shore!
There are times when we need vacation to be a simple break, but then there are times we are looking for something fun and exciting to do! Have Books, Will Travel is here to encourage you to turn your vacation into an adventure! Through books, activities, and trips, you’ll explore the lives of Americans who have helped shape our country and left behind wonderful stories to share. Have Books, Will Travel will help you meet these amazing individuals and point you on your way as you explore and experience their world for yourself.