A Day on the Mountain    by Kevin Kurtz & Erin E. Hunter Order:  USA  Can Arbordale, 2010 (2010) Softcover      Reviewed by J. A. Kaszuba Locke Kevin Kurtz follows up A Day in the Salt Marsh with A Day on the Mountain, using rhyme to take children from the 'bottom of a mountain to the top'. At five-thousand feet above sea level and higher, the author guides readers through habitats, revealing grazing Rams, hovering Hummingbirds, Bighorn Sheep, Snow Fleas, and the development of a colorful 'carpet of living lichens ... The lichens create the soil ... that each living thing on the mountain depends on every day.' Of the Great Gray Owl, Kurtz writes: 'Keep hiking up the mountain, / and it may be hard to see, / but a single Great Gray Owl / perches in a tree.' Just as interesting is the nutcracker which gathers thousands of seeds, burying them in the ground to meet its 'winter needs'. Yes, the beautiful bird remembers where the seeds were planted. The seeds also serve in regenerating the environment. Erin Hunter's sketches and paintings of the featured animals and their habitats capture their essence, from the large Black Bear to the tiny Snow Flea, and from the vastness of a mountain range to the small berries and lines within the leaves of the bush. The book also includes fascinating sections on Mountain Ecosystems; Mountain to Arctic Pole Map Comparisons; Above or Below the Tree Line?; and Match the Animals. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews