The Maine Coastal Program at the Maine State Planning Office has published a free children’s book about the environment, “The Watershed Journey of Linus Loon.”

Created by Hampden resident Josh Atwood, the book is entertaining, educational and illustrated. Designed for grades three through seven, it teaches pupils the basics of watershed ecology and nonpoint source pollution, and encourages environmental appreciation, awareness and stewardship.

The story follows young Linus Loon, who must migrate to the ocean by swimming through the watershed because of a broken wing. From his home lake in northern Maine, Linus must travel through a pond, a bog, a river and an estuary before reaching the ocean.

Anxious about his travels, Linus seeks advice from the wise Lake Gnome and later meets a local gnome in each of the ecosystems he visits. Through his friendship with the gnomes, Linus learns about the water cycle, biodiversity, nonpoint source pollution and other aspects of the environment.

In addition to the central themes, Linus learns about food chains, primary and secondary production, predator-prey relationships and nutrient loading.

Linus’ final visit with the King Gnome atop Cadillac Mountain includes a comprehensive review of concepts and vocabulary, and offers a new concept – nonpoint source conservation – as a partial solution to nonpoint source pollution.

In addition to learning from wise gnomes, Linus meets inquisitive trolls who ask questions at the end of every chapter. Students will be challenged by these trolls to consider the concepts in the text and how they relate to issues in the students’ lives and communities.

The book’s full-page pen-and-watercolor illustrations were created by Brunswick artist Thaddeus Lyford. The colorful illustrations depict many specimens of flora and fauna indigenous to Maine, as well as visual representations of ecological concepts.

“The Watershed Journey of Linus Loon” is accompanied by two handbooks. The Educator Handbook provides background information on the central ecological concepts, and a thorough correlation of the text to Maine Learning Results guidelines. The Student Handbook includes vocabulary and Troll Questions with each chapter.

“The Watershed Journey of Linus Loon” is available to educators in hard copy free, and also may be downloaded at www.maine.gov/spo/mcp/resources/linus/index.php, where visitors also will find downloadable versions of the Educator and Student Handbooks. To request a hard-copy version of the book, call the Maine Coastal Program at 287-1486.