(2) K-3 From a red cabin in a forest, the young protagonist calls for her dog. "Peppermint! Where is that pesky pup? I'm going out to look for Peppermint! You come too." In the panel-style illustrations that follow, the girl takes readers on a tour of her favorite features of the forest, while the cagey Peppermint comments from a circle inset on each spread. When there are reminiscences (about the time, for instance, when Peppermint came home with a snout full of porcupine quills), the action appears as childlike drawings in the girl's sketchbook (Peppermint: "Maybe not my finest hour"). A mix of the informative and the homey, the narration encompasses elements of history and geology (how millennia earlier, glaciers dropped erratic boulders), botany, zoology (the time a coyote chased them home and they later returned to find its den), and folk wisdom (how to make a whistle out of an acorn cupule), in a visually inviting and intellectually stimulating way. When the naughty Peppermint is at last reunited with her owner, they're rewarded with one of the girl's life-list ambitions: the sight of an elusive fisher regarding them silently from high in a tree. The back matter includes a note from the author about his home and a map showing the Adirondack Mountains, sidebars about porcupines and fishers, and a list of "a few good forest books."

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann. Manley offers a child's point of view of a day-long hike up a mountain (identified in the back matter as the South Sister in Oregon's Cascade Mountain Range). Each stage of the hike is described in a rich, telegraphic three-line haiku poem, beginning with a blazing sunrise. Readers follow along as the child swats away mosquitoes, passes a rushing stream, trudges through the snow, munches trail mix, reaches the summit, and heads back down and to the campsite for bedtime: "trying to sleep -- / what mountain will I climb / next?" The economy of words in the haiku form fits the way a child might think and particularly seems to suit the exercise of describing a demanding hike while actually in the midst of one. Mann's mixed-media illustrations work perfectly in tandem with the haiku narration, alternating perspectives -- featuring the landscape and the views, or the child's close observations, or the family on the move. Her cartoonlike characters pop against the natural setting, especially the child protagonist in an orange hoodie and green pants. Back matter includes information about the history and geology of the region, hiking tips, a visual index, a list of resources, and a note about haiku form, which debunks the idea that English-language haiku must follow a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) 4-6 Survival Scout series. This humorous and informative comic-format guide showcases all things survival in the great outdoors. After getting lost while hiking and later abandoned by her exaggeratedly incompetent grown-up brother (he gets chased away by a bear), protagonist Scout is left alone in the wilderness. She has no communication devices and only half of the gear she needs, but she is determined to pull through. Straightforward narration documents Scout's planning and behavior as she tends to her most immediate priorities of shelter, signals, water, and food. As she confronts each challenge (how to light a fire, use a compass, etc.), readers gain access to her decision-making processes and her persistence and problem-solving skills when tasks don't immediately go as planned. Each survival scenario is presented with tension, but none verges on scary or stressful. A silly cast of talking critters (especially a friendly skunk) lightens the tone, offering clarifications and lots of laugh-out-loud jokes. The thick-lined, brightly colored illustrations are jam-packed with diagrams, labels, and other instructions akin to what one would see in a survival handbook; a variety of layouts and visual perspectives allows for readers to focus on the facts and soak in the beauty of the setting. An appendix includes information on knot-tying, Morse code, first aid, bear safety, skunk scent remedies, and going to the bathroom; resources for further reading; and an author's note.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kirbi Fagan. Sky is a wild mustang, at home in the Virginia Range of western Nevada. From his earliest days, Sky learns to live as part of a herd. During a time of drought when Sky must leave his band to search for water, he is captured by humans. He is used by the Pony Express and then is captured by silver miners. There, faced with horses and donkeys who are suffering from poisoned air and water, Sky leads a rebellion to free the captured animals. Sky's first-person narration of his adventures is engrossing and fast-paced. His vocabulary is appropriate to a wild horse; human hands are grabbers, corrals are traps, and mountain lions are claw beasts. Parry weaves historical and environmental information smoothly into the narrative. Sky's life depends on water and the healthy plants and animals in his surroundings, so readers finish the book with a strong sense of the impact of human choices on animal and plant life. As she did with A Wolf Called Wander and A Whale in the Wild (rev. 1/21), Parry writes a convincing fictionalized life of one wild animal while addressing issues of community, survival, and care for our environment. Fagan's realistic black-and-white illustrations convey the windswept mountain terrain and the movement of the horses. Extensive back matter includes detailed information about the historical and environmental context of the story.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jeanette Winter. This nonfiction picture book spotlights the decades-long data collection project of billy barr, a contemporary citizen scientist who spells his name using all lowercase letters and has spent over fifty years living alone (not counting a skunk and pine marten) in the Rocky Mountains. To pass the time, barr began observing and measuring his natural surroundings: snowfall and snowpack, animal hibernation, wildflower blossoms, and more. After years of recording in his notebooks, he shared patterns he noticed with a scientist he knew who studied climate change. "These measurements proved that the earth was getting warmer." Now, his data is used by climate scientists around the world, and he continues to live in the mountain wilderness and collect and record data using a computer. The account unfolds chronologically using a straightforward, line break filled text. barr's name and specific location are not revealed until the concluding author's note (and brief bibliography), keeping the story focused on his process and impact rather than on the "man on the mountain" himself. Illustrations are set against plentiful white space in Jeanette Winter's trademark colorful, painterly style reminiscent of folk art. A variety of perspectives, including double-page landscapes, offer readers opportunities to connect with the setting and join the protagonist in tracking changes in it over time. The Winters here celebrate how a long-term commitment to a personal project can become an informational resource that inspires future study and action.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 "It's hard to knit a sweater with your hooves." The opening line of this animal fable sounds like a piece of gnomic wisdom, but in fact it simply refers to protagonist Hakim, a friendly-looking donkey who is knitting a sweater for his friend Daisy, who lives on the top of a mountain. "Hard" it may be, but obviously not impossible, because one page-turn later we see Hakim tucking the completed blue sweater into his colorful tapestry saddlebag before heading off to deliver his gift. The first character he meets on the narrow, foggy mountain path is a doom-predicting goat who warns against the mountain's monsters. Hakim is unflappable when he sees monstrous silhouettes appearing in the mist and, sure enough, they all turn out to be benign, if odd. Every encounter is a witty and wacky visual joke. The creatures join Hakim on his journey and are present for the final big reveal, a surprise that turns the tale inside out and undercuts an overly neat moral. The pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are dramatically composed, full of humor, and punctuated with mysterious glowing fog. A book that is perfect for storytime and, with its clean design and accessible text, also for new readers.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(2) K-3 Life becomes challenging for Liling after her family moves from the rural mountains to a crowded city in China. Without new hùko˘u (residency) papers, she can't go to school, so she spends her days at her parents' workplaces and accompanies them on errands to the market. One day at the park, she's teased for her old red coat and dirty shoes. When Liling meets Qiqi, a girl just like her, they become friends and find comfort and strength in each other. At the end of the story, they walk together, hand in hand, into the park. Evans's pencil and watercolor illustrations use a muted color palette of blues and grays. The cool tone conveys Liling's feelings of disengagement in the city; the girls' bright-hued coats--red for Liling and yellow for Qiqi--are uplifting pops of color. Evans also makes use of varied perspectives to enhance the narrative and mood of the story. In a double-page spread where Liling first sees Qiqi from her balcony, viewers look down at the scene from above, observing the special connection between the characters. Both sad and hopeful, this tale shows the value of finding strength in true friendship. It is important to note that the story reflects only part of the reality of life in modern China, and readers should see the author's note to get a better idea of the big picture. A helpful glossary precedes the text.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) K-3 Translated by Lawrence Schimel. Illustrated by Miren Asiain Lora. "How did the oysters get up to the top of a mountain?" Nogués combines a geologist's eye, a teacher's cadence, and his own joy and wonder about the world to organize explanations of geologic time, fossil formation, stratigraphy, and mountain building into a puzzle to be solved. The superbly creative text takes the form of an interchange between narrator and learner, starting with a perceived anomaly--sea creatures at the highest point on land--and then moving through a series of questions, eliminating incorrect alternatives and reveling in eureka moments, to arrive at the logical conclusions formed by centuries of scientific thought. Readers immerse themselves in the "language of rocks," asked directly by Nogués (in ­­­first- and second-person narration) to observe objects within the gorgeous and varied sea-toned illustrations by Asiain Lora (Hello, Earth!, rev. 7/21); and they can use the child and adult figures present in all of the main illustrations to imagine themselves as geologists in the field. Sidebars throughout provide additional information about the scientific principles and discoveries, and a glossary is appended.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Anna, "like a wildflower between the stones," lives with her little brother in a village surrounded by a wall. It is meant to protect them from the unknown world on the other side, one that includes a formidable bear. After getting a glimpse of the magnificent mountain beyond the wall, the two set out, despite warnings ("Climbing the mountain is impossible!"). They brave the unsettling woods, thundering waterfalls, a sharply steep and seemingly never-ending mountain climb, snow, and even the legendary bear, who is not as fearsome as he was made out to be. When the children finally arrive at the mountaintop, they look down at a breathtaking view, which includes their home village below. They head back, knowing the world is "full of mountains, all of them waiting to be climbed." Soman's use of capitalization throughout (the Village, the Wall, the Great and Terrible Bear, and even the Mountain Goat) gives the story a stately feel; that the hero of the epic, exhibiting deeds of great valor, is a girl (with purple hair to boot) is all the more satisfying. Though the siblings' return home is triumphant, the real treasure is the journey itself, filled with dramatic and cinematic vistas in Soman's expansive watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil paintings--soaring mountains, wild orchards in shimmering sunlight, the immense waterfalls, the glistening river, and more.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Pallavi Jain. Doma misses the mountains of Ladakh, a region in Kashmir administered by India, bordering Tibet and Pakistan. Known for its remoteness, jagged mountains, rocky outcrops, and unique culture as a former Buddhist kingdom, it's nothing like the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai--or is it? Her friend Veda believes that Mumbai can give Doma the feeling of Ladakh's mountains, albeit in a different way. "Do mountains have to be exactly like the ones in Ladakh? Big, brown triangles?" Veda asks as the girls make their way through the city. They walk through bustling outdoor markets and streets, while bright-hued illustrations show more expansive views of the city that zoom out far enough to emphasize color and geography: the iconic Bandra-Worli bridge has large, mountain-like, ­triangular-shaped cables, while aerial street views flatten ­proportions, turning buildings into color-saturated blocks. Veda leads Doma into a high-rise building, up many flights of a swirling spiral staircase, shown from both a top-down perspective and a ­disorienting double-page corkscrew. Doma concedes that being on top of a "mountain in Mumbai" brings a similar feeling to being in Ladakh. While the cultural and geographic specificity of Ladakh is what makes the book unique, readers come away from it challenged to view objects and locations in new ways that foster connections, despite differences.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) YA Equal parts high-stakes adventure and introspective teen drama, Levy's (The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, rev. 9/14, and other middle-grade novels) YA debut is an examination of a commercialized natural world and the burden of unchecked expectations. In fast-paced, alternating first-person chapters, readers follow two teenaged best friends as they attempt to summit Mount Everest. Tate, unfocused and brash, is (to his chagrin) known as the "Master of Disaster," while Rose is calculated and driven. Though both protagonists are seasoned climbers, their ascent becomes increasingly complicated--most notably by Tate's debilitating PTSD after a recent fall, Rose's nonstop fear (identified as "the Dread") for her sick mother, and the normally platonic pair's burgeoning sexual relationship. A large cast of secondary characters weaves in and out of the story, providing effective springboards to address issues such as racism, sexism, labor exploitation, and mental health. A confluence of events at the novel's climax pushes Tate and Rose apart and past their preconceived limits, with tragic results that call into question the ethics of their once-shared goal. A hopeful epilogue narrated by Tate balances out the harrowing conclusion; back matter includes information about the Sherpa people and an author's note with further reading.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) YA "It's a savage mountain...It tries to kill you." The second-highest mountain in the world (after Mount Everest), K2 is certainly more dangerous. Climbers have frozen to death, been blown off the mountain by gale-force winds, been smothered in avalanches, and died from blood clots in their legs. "Nothing grows. And nothing survives for long." It is a "death zone." More than nine thousand climbers have scaled Everest, but fewer than four hundred have successfully summited K2, a 28,250-foot-high mountain "tucked away in the far northern reaches of the Himalaya." In relating the dramatic stories of three American expeditions to K2--in 1938, 1939, and 1953--Olson weaves reflections on the meaning of life into tales of death-defying and death-causing adventures. The book is divided into three parts--one for each expedition--plus an epilogue that gives voice to the climbers' own reflections about their experiences. Striking black-and-white photographs of the mountain, of the climbers, and even of frostbitten toes add to the drama and sense of immediacy. Readers will also find (in the back matter in a two-page section on "The Gear") a good amount of technical detail about how climbs are organized and carried out. In his author's note, Olson reflects on the mountain climber's "complicated relationship with death" from the vantage point of the "sea level–bound observer." Appended with a bibliography and source notes.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) YA In the fourth (and final) installment about Peak ­Marcello (beginning with Peak, rev. 5/07), the ­sixteen-year-old has survived an avalanche on Hkakabo Razi and descends into the Tibetan jungle, pursued by Captain Shek of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Peak, his world-famous mountain-climbing father, and their longtime "mystery monk" friend Zopa hole up in a Buddhist monastery hidden away from the world in the Tsangpo River gorge. The fast pace of the adventure takes a meditative turn here, and the experience changes Peak. By story's end, he seems more interested in following Zopa's advice to "go out and do good things" than to continue scaling skyscrapers and mountains. This volume stands alone but is enriched by the prior entries, as Peak ponders a future seemingly without climbing: "The climbing itch was gone. I had left it somewhere on the slopes of the Land of Dawn-Lit Mountains."

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(1) 4-6 Since the Great Depression forced twelve-year-old Ellie's family to move from town up to Echo Mountain, she hasn't known how to interact with her mother and older sister; they miss their former life and blame her for the tree-felling accident that has left her father in a coma. Ellie doesn't know how to wake him up, though she keenly desires it, but there's a lot she does know: how to "hunt and trap and fish and harvest" as if she were born to it. Remembering her father's advice--"the things we need to learn to do, we learn to do by doing"--she takes it upon herself to find the answers to her problems, including persistent attempts to rouse her father using unconventional methods (dousing him with cold water, stinging him with bees). Meeting the injured Miss Cate, an elderly mountain woman, and Larkin, a solitary boy with a talent for wood carving, eventually helps Ellie figure out how to heal her broken family. Wolk's latest novel (Wolf Hollow, rev. 7/16; Beyond the Bright Sea, rev. 7/17) immerses readers in its 1934 Maine woods setting, folding myriad details about living off the land into Ellie's captivating and complex first-person narration. Free-spirited Ellie's affinity for her natural surroundings and her empathic connection with animals show an appreciation for the interconnectedness of life, as do several of the (well-earned) plot revelations. Wolk's poetic prose and enticing foreshadowing warrant savoring as they carry the reader through the narrative, which gracefully unfolds over brief, steadily paced chapters. Exemplary historical fiction.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Patrick Benson. Large snow leopard tracks on the endpapers lead readers to join the narrator on a Himalayan trek in hopes of spotting this elusive animal. Shortly, readers do indeed see the snow leopard--first as a solitary animal, with features such as coat, paws, and behaviors noted; when her cub joins her, we learn about the lives of young snow leopards. Soft watercolors, predominantly in shades of tan and white, underscore the animal's natural camouflage and the stark mountainous setting. An author's note discusses conservation efforts. Ind.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(3) K-3 National Park Explorers series. These books describe basic features of U.S. national parks for younger elementary-aged readers. Engaging photographs of landscapes and animals appear throughout; short sentences and large-size type convey information about each park's indigenous plants and wildlife, along with details about the climate and land formations. A simple activity is appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these National Park Explorers titles: Badlands, Big Bend, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) K-3 National Park Explorers series. These books describe basic features of U.S. national parks for younger elementary-aged readers. Engaging photographs of landscapes and animals appear throughout; short sentences and large-size type convey information about each park's indigenous plants and wildlife, along with details about the climate and land formations. A simple activity is appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these National Park Explorers titles: Badlands, Big Bend, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) K-3 National Park Explorers series. These books describe basic features of U.S. national parks for younger elementary-aged readers. Engaging photographs of landscapes and animals appear throughout; short sentences and large-size type convey information about each park's indigenous plants and wildlife, along with details about the climate and land formations. A simple activity is appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these National Park Explorers titles: Badlands, Big Bend, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) K-3 National Park Explorers series. These books describe basic features of U.S. national parks for younger elementary-aged readers. Engaging photographs of landscapes and animals appear throughout; short sentences and large-size type convey information about each park's indigenous plants and wildlife, along with details about the climate and land formations. A simple activity is appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these National Park Explorers titles: Badlands, Big Bend, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(2) K-3 Wren, El, and Hattie (and dog Bean) spend the day hiking up a mountain trail and, incidentally, introducing readers to outdoor wonders. While working cooperatively, each child has individual strengths and interests (sketching, writing, exploring). With a natural, down-to-earth aesthetic and illustrations that suggest a Pacific Northwest setting, this is an inviting, friendship-focused exploration of time spent outdoors.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019