The Prescription for Adventure book series is a group of non-fiction books that depict life — and all of its grand adventures — in Alaska, the Last Frontier. Written by Naomi Gaede-Penner, these books are told from the perspective of various family members across the generations, beginning in 1955. Two of the six books in the series are already in print, as well as one Homeschooler's Study Guide and one Reader's Guide.

  • Get up close and learn about (or even teach!) Alaska History
  • Fasten your seatbelt for Alaska Adventure
  • Identify landmarks on your trip or tour to Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, Yukon River, Seward, or Seldovia
Alaska Bush Pilot Doctor Book Cover

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Naomi brings to life her father's supper table storytelling in Prescription for Adventure: Bush Pilot Doctor. His flying, hunting, and medical adventures are set against a land of tundra, dogsleds, 60oF below, midnight sun, and the legendary Yukon River. Find out more, and read three chapters for free.

“I've read several Alaskan flying & adventure books over the years and have enjoyed none of them as much as this one.” — Mark Westover
A Mennonite Family Finds Home

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From Kansas Wheat Fields to Alaska Tundra:
A Mennonite Family Finds Home
What is the prescription for finding home in Alaska? Take one young Mennonite girl and transplant her from the flat-land prairies of Kansas. Give her village potlatches, school in a Quonset hut, the fragrance of wood smoke, Native friends, a doctor-daddy who creates hunting tales and medical adventures with a bush plane, a mother who makes the tastiest moose roasts and has the grit to be a homesteader, and throw in a batch of siblings.

Weave into her journey the perspectives of her family members, and have them face the lack of conveniences, isolation from extended family, freezing temperatures, and unknown hardships. Mix all these together with an attitude of humor, ingenuity, optimism, and sense of adventure! Then find out who really does find home. Lean more...

“I couldn't put your book down, but read it from start to finish! I liked the flashbacks between Alaska and Kansas. The contrast was fascinating.” — Rolland Winter
A is for Alaska

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'A' is for Alaska:
Teacher to the Territory

Anna Bortel, Naomi's school teacher, gives her prescription for adventure. Just as the Alaska spawning salmon swim upstream, so did Anna when marriage and motherhood eluded her. In 1954, this young school teacher drove up the Alaska-Canada Highway from Ohio to Valdez, where snow was measured in feet. After three years, she pushed further north to an isolated Athabascan village along the Yukon River. Teaching and living in drafty Quonset huts with freezing oil lines at 50 below zero added to her teaching rigors.

You'll smile, laugh, and shake your head in amazement as you read these heartwarming, inspiring, and captivating stories of teaching in the Territory of Alaska. (This is Part I of her story. Part II will be available in later 2012.)

“Anna's life was so unusual for a single woman in the '50s and early '60s, and more so in the harsh and demanding Alaska environment. Her interview provided an entertaining glimpse into her experiences. My husband and I were captivated! We loved hearing her tell her stories and the pictures were fascinating.” — Karen Hill
Study Guide Cover

Book & Study Guide
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The Alaska Unit Student Guide (& Text), is ideal for children who need an independent study or parents who need homeschooling curriculum. It meets the standards for semester-credit Alaska history and is adaptable for students from grade school through high school. Learn more...

“Terrific for homeschoolers! The questions were a good mix of why, how, where, and what...The format was easy to use...weighty enough to make it an Alaska unit study...” — Kenai Peninsula Homeschooler
3 Boys Book

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The Three Boys is a collection of short stories about Naomi's children's father, Bryan, and his two brothers. The stories begin in Kansas with threatening dust rollers, slimy stock tanks, and an elusive pony. It continues with humorous accounts that honor Bryan, his mother, and his father. This book offers an example of how to put together your own personal stories for family enjoyment. Learn more...