Alice and Jack Hike the Grand Canyon

by Amy Graves, Pam Schweitzer, McKenzie Robinson (Illustrator)

Overview

Alice and Jack Hike the Grand Canyon is a fictional picture book perfect for families with young children considering a challenging hike. Grand Canyon National Park has almost six (6) million visitors per year (second most visited national park) with less than one percentage (1%) going below the rim.

Alice and her brother, Jack, along with their Mom and Dad are hiking to Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon for spring break. Alice describes her and her brother Jack's journey of preparing for and eventually hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Alice needs to face her fear of heights since there are sections of the canyon that are steep. Both kids learn about hiking etiquette and how to respond to minor mishaps. Alice and her brother forge a special respect and appreciation of this iconic natural wonder of the world and value the preparation involved in having a successful hiking trip.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781736310601
Publisher:	Opalave Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	04/25/2022
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	1,163,621
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	5 - 10 Years

About the Author

AMY GRAVES (daughter) and PAMELA SCHWEITZER (mother) are a mother-daughter author team who come from a long line of Grand Canyon hikers. Amy lives in Arizona with her husband and children. She is a graduate of Bowdoin College, where she studied Child Psychology and minored in Education. Amy's first trip in the Grand Canyon was when she was 3 years old. Amy has positive memories of hiking as a child and has now taken her own children to the bottom of the canyon. She enjoys playing piano and is a versatile craftsperson.

Pam grew up hiking with her parents and siblings on many of the Grand Canyon trails. She is a former assistant surgeon general and rear admiral in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service. She and her husband, Paul, have organized several Grand Canyon hikes for family and friends.

MCKENZIE ROBINSON grew up and resides with her husband and children in Arizona. She and Amy have been best friends since elementary school days. McKenzie has always been a talented artist. She is a Brigham Young University (BYU) graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art. She is also a musician and vocalist, performing with her sisters in a country folk band, Firefly (@iheartfirefly). Her hobbies include making handbound journals and hiking with her family.

Editorial Reviews

2022-06-05
Two children enjoy a challenging hiking adventure with their parents.

In this informative and entertaining debut picture book for elementary school students, Alice (the story’s first-person narrator) and her younger brother, Jack, learn that their parents intend to take them on a hiking trip into the Grand Canyon. During four months of preparation, Mom and Dad enlist them in the planning. To help acclimate the group for the arduous climb, the White family takes daytime “practice hikes.” The four also go on a local overnight hiking trip to experience using their new gear and setting up camp. The rest of the tale focuses on the Grand Canyon adventure through Alice’s eyes. She learns about its history and culture, stargazes, crosses over the rushing Colorado River, meets other campers and a mule train, and traverses steep switchbacks to the bottom of the canyon and back up again. A notably polished collaboration between mother-and-daughter authors Schweitzer and Graves and illustrator Robinson, this simple but well-conceived story is framed around useful tips for safe, fun family outdoor trips, from the importance of planning and practice hikes to the value of protective gear for sudden changes in weather and “one step at a time” encouragement if a young adventurer becomes anxious. Robinson’s deft illustrations are colorful, illuminating, and lively, and the large, clear text is perfect for young readers. The aftermatter includes facts about Grand Canyon National Park and a resource bibliography.

Appealing storytelling conveys the importance of preparation and awareness for young hikers.

Kirkus Reviews