About Habitats: Mountains
Kindergarten-Grade 4—The majesty of mountains comes through in the almost poetic language and quiet illustrations in this picture book. On each spread, a sentence or two faces a full-page illustration. "Many kinds of plants and animals are able to live in warmer mountain forests" shows a view of Mount Mitchell in the Blue Ridge Mountains inhabited by a black bear, a broad-winged hawk, an Eastern chipmunk, a black-throated green warbler, a woodchuck, flame azalea, and mountain laurel. Readers can take the time to drink in every detail of the fine drawing and have fun finding the flora and fauna. Most of the mountains are in the U.S., but Asia, South America, and Europe are also represented. "Mountains are important places that need to be protected," describes the Virunga Mountains in east-central Africa, habitat of the mountain gorillas. An afterword offers a paragraph with more details about each two-page entry. A beautiful and informative selection.—Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.