Last Fall we visited the Meadowlands Environmental Center with my daughter's girl scout troop. It was one of our best outings. We learned all about salt water marshes and how shrimp can hide more easily in murky salt-water. The kids were handed little fishing nets and caught small fish and shrimp from the touch tanks. We made water-scopes and examined the other organisms on the bottom of the touch-tank. But the real highlight of our trip was the walk through the wetlands!

The water around the Meadowlands Environmental Center is about 1 to 2 feet deep. There is a fabulous elevated sidewalk that takes you on a winding adventure right through the grasses and weeds and you can easily peek at the fish and other animals in the shallow water below. The girls raced down the elevated paths, disappeared into the grasses, and pointed to birds and fish from the viewing stations throughout the wetlands. It was unforgettable!

Thomas Yezerski's book captures all those tiny elements of beauty and wonder that we found during our outing through the Meadowlands. The book contains fascinating facts about the Meadowlands and impressed my little environmentalist with the sad history of the Meadowlands' pollution. But the illustrations are really what catches your eye. My kids and I especially loved his little drawings and captions in the book's margins of plants, people, buildings, and other things related to the Meadowlands. You could spend a long time just pouring over the pictures in the book.

Of course, now we are itching to go back to explore the wetlands! With our new-found knowledge about the Meadowlands, we're ready for an Eco-Cruise!