PADDLE TO THE SEA By Holling Clancy Holling. Remember reading this classic story in third grade? It was the Caldecott Medal winner when first published in 1942, and been a staple in libraries ever since. Follow the four-year adventure of a tiny wooden canoe carved by a young Indian boy, as it travels from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean. The canoe and its paddler, named Paddle-to the Sea, encounters rapids, fish nets, wild animals, a sawmill and waterfalls. Carved on the canoe is the message, "Put me back in the water," instructions which are followed by people who find the small craft washed ashore. Along with the story comes a painless, delightful lesson in regional geography, nature and history.