In school, we were supposed to write a story based on one of Harris Burdick's pictures and the sentences that go with them. I chose, "Missing In Venice," which is the picture of the cover. The line is, "Even with her mighty engines in reverse, the ocean liner was pulled further and further into the canal." I didn't use this exact line, but the idea was the same. Many years ago, a children's book editor named Peter Wendler met a man named Harris Burdick, who gave him 14 pictures with intriguing captions. Burdick promised to return with the stories behind those illustrations and captions. But the next day, no one came. And for more than 30 years, writers and readers puzzled over this mystery.