Climb up a Mountain — Dana Meachen Rau

K-Gr 1-After the bright promise of the attractive covers, nearly everything else here is a disappointment. Meant to introduce beginning readers to the joy of spending time in the natural world, the four books contain color photos of children of diverse races outdoors. Unfortunately, the pictures are posed, sometimes with misleading results. In Mountain, there is no sign of a mountain at all: a pile of rocks and a gentle grade are enjoyed by a mother and son wearing shoes that would never get them up an actual incline. In Cave, a stone wall has obviously been painted with fake white petroglyphs, artifacts that children are unlikely to find, and certainly not in the form of bright, white paint. The more realistic Desert is dull. One entire page is devoted to the word Sunscreen. Even a bland photo of sand dunes is an empty promise, as sand dunes are extremely rare in North American deserts. Although other titles may not be at the reading level of your newest readers, they will spark more enthusiasm for exploring nature. Among the best are Brenda Guiberson's Cactus Hotel (Holt, 1991), Diane Siebert's Cave (HarperCollins, 2000), and Ron Hirschi's Faces in the Mountains (Dutton, 1997).-Ellen Heath, Orchard School, Ridgewood, NJ Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.