This delightful book --- now re-issued in a handsome new edition --- tells the story of Elf, a baby eagle who worries about many things, including the distance from his nest, high up in a tree, to the ground, way, way down below. He also worries about his sister, Edwina, who is older and more adventurous than he is, and who spreads her wings and flies out of their nest, which frightens Elf a great deal. Eventually, when his baby down grows into strong, brown feathers, Elf's parents stop bringing him food and tempt him with tasty morsels that they keep just out of reach. Elf gets very hungry and one day he accidentally tumbles out of the nest. As he starts to fall, his parents yell at him to flap his wings. He does, and he is flying! At the story's end, Elf can't wait for dawn to break so he can fly all the way to the sun. Elf the Eagle was a finalist for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Award (BC Book Prizes) in 2008 and for the Shining Willow Award (Saskatchewan Young Readers) in 2009. "A delightful children's book." --- Hope Rutledge, American Bald Eagle Information, 2007 "Children naturally respond to young animals, and this story of a timid bird who literally learns to fly may help them face their own fears and inspire them to take those first steps towards independence. Highly recommended." ―Alison Mews, Coordinator of the Curriculum Materials Centre in the Faculty of Education, Memorial University, St. John's, NL. Published in CM Magazine, University of Manitoba, 2010 "This beautifully illustrated book by Ron Smith and Ruth Campbell is a joy to read aloud! As it addresses the learning outcomes for many areas of the curriculum and for multiple grade levels, our staff thought it would be a great choice for our next school-wide literacy event. Our school has engaged in two school-wide themes per year, for the past several years. Each one has been unique and successful in its own way. The strong connections that the students made to Elf, however, generated a degree of excitement and enthusiasm that really exceeded all of our other themes. Perhaps it was our close proximity to eagles (they circled our school almost daily during the nesting season) that fueled the interest? Perhaps it was our connection to the author? Maybe it was the universal theme of overcoming fear that resonated with the students. Whatever it was, this book worked on so many levels that I would encourage you to give it a try." ―School-wide Literacy Event: Elf the Eagle by Brenda Boreham Ron Smith is the author and editor of numerous books, including the award-winning Elf the Eagle and The Defiant Mind: Living Inside a Stroke. An excerpt from this book was translated into eighteen languages by Reader's Digest and published in over twenty-two countries. In 2002 he received an honorary doctorate from U.B.C. and in 2005 he was the inaugural Fulbright Chair in Creative Writing at Arizona State University. A sequel to Elf the Eagle, Elf's Family Tree, has now been published. He lives with his wife, the writer Patricia Jean Smith, in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island where he daily searches the sky for eagles in full flight. Ruth Campbell is an illustrator living in Vancouver with her husband Robin, three dogs, and two cats. She has illustrated five books, including Elf's Family Tree by Ron Smith.