High in the Mountains

A young child describes a day spent near Grandpa's house in the mountains.

Gr 2-3-- A glimpse of a child's appreciation of mountain days: misty mornings, alpine meadows, streams fed by melting snow, big boulders, a road that ``wraps like elastic around each slope,'' the pleasures of a tent, a campfire, and the evening's ``cricket concert.'' Young's nearly abstract pastels are a concert in color and light: vivid greens, yellows and reds, rich blues and purples, the scheme changing with each spread. Unnatural hues in some scenes and sharply contrasting splashes of the brighter colors reflect and amplify the depth of feeling here. The dust-jacket illustration plus a hint in the brief text suggest that the narrator is native American. The blurb specifies the Colorado Rockies as the setting, but this doesn't capture a sense of place the way the Baylor/Parnall collaborations do. A lyrical, rather distant mood piece.

John Peters, New York Public Library

Copyright 1989 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The visual beauty of mountain high country is evoked by Young's vibrant pastels and Radin's musical poem. "High in the mountains / near Grandpa's house," says the child/narrator, "I run in a meadow / between the slopes, / Then stop to pick some alpine flowers." She watches her shadow in afternoon sun and drives with her grandfather "on a road that wraps like elastic around each slope" until they reach their campsite "up in the clouds." Although the focus of the text is upon the experiences of the child, the emphasis of the beautiful illustrations is upon panoramic vistas. Readers see the alpine flowers, but not the girl picking them, see the sun-dappled pond, but not the girl playing beside it. Her views become the readers' views, and--from the mists of sunrise to the purple shadows of night--give the book a quiet intensity. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.