PORTLAND, Maine — At the back of “Happy Birthday, Maine!”, the new children’s book that celebrates the state’s bicentennial, readers will find a list of facts and numbers that come under the heading of the Maine Scoop. If you already knew all the information that’s presented, you know your Maine.
Some of it’s stuff you were already aware of. The state mammal, for instance, is the moose and the state bird is the chickadee. But can you rattle off the state treat, dessert and soft drink? Can you name Maine’s longest river? And do you know where the first Europeans to visit Maine likely came from?
“Happy Birthday, Maine!” was written by Lynn Plourde of Winthrop, the author of more than thirty children’s books, and illustrated by Mark Scott Ricketts of Bangor, who’s also the author of several “Iron Man” comics. Their affection for the state is apparent when you read to whom they dedicated the book. Lynn wrote, “To Maine, my heart home.” Mark struck a different note: “To the Maine ship captain who invented the modern donut.”