SEARS BOOK TO HIGHLIGHT COLUMBUS VOYAGE, `QUINCENTENNIAL' ANNIVERSARY

To help American youngsters experience the voyage of Christopher Columbus, Sears, Roebuck and Co. is providing area libraries and elementary school teachers with interactive educational materials.

The materials include colorful "pop-up" books and cassette tapes that chronicle Columbus' voyage.

The Cape Girardeau Sears store is donating six copies of the hardbound, family-oriented book to the Cape Girardeau Public Library. Titled "The Voyage of Columbus in His Own Words," the book charts Columbus' voyage that resulted in his landing at the West Indies.

The 12-page book, published by Sears, is available in English and Spanish and is written for grades one through three. The book is based on excerpts from Columbus' journal that describes the hardships and experiences of the 3,000-mile journey from Spain to the New World that he made 500 years ago.

"By making this book available at the Cape Girardeau library, Sears hopes to help area children learn about Columbus' voyage as we celebrate its Quincentennial anniversary next year," said Jack Watts, manager of the Cape Girardeau Sears store. "We think the book in particular provides an interesting visual and interactive approach to learning."

Terry Risko, librarian at the Cape Girardeau library, said, "This is one of the most visual and interactive books I've seen and it is likely to be very popular with our young readers. The book's pop-up design is sure to make learning about this part of history fun for kids."

This month, managers of 864 Sears stores will donate the books to libraries around the country.

Also, Sears is making available to first-, second- and third-grade teachers an educational program titled "Sailing With Columbus" that can be used in social studies curriculum or as a tool to study national holidays. The program will be made available to teachers at about 40,000 public, private and parochial elementary schools across the nation.

Created in conjunction with Liftime Learning Systems Inc., a national education publisher, the bi-lingual material will be distributed this month.

Sears will also offer the book at its stores beginning Monday. Copies will be sold for $6.99 with a $20 purchase. The book, with a cover price of $13.99, is accompanied by a 13-minute audio cassette.