Snow School

by Sandra Markle, Alan Marks (Illustrator)

Overview

The author/illustrator team of Sandra Markle and Alan Marks has had a profound impact on the world of children’s nonfiction with their collaborative efforts on books about different animals around the world. From wolves in Yellowstone to penguins in Antarctica, readers and critics have raved about the way in which Markle and Marks share their stories and information about animals in the wild.

In their newest project, readers are introduced to twin snow leopard cubs and their mother from the Hindu Kush mountains of Pakistan. Lyrical, informative text and stunning watercolor illustrations lead readers through the struggles these snow leopards face—from finding food to bearing harsh weather conditions—and the lessons the young cubs learn as they prepare for a life on their own, out from underneath the watchful, caring eye of their mother.

Back matter includes further resources and facts as well as an author’s note about the research process and information about how we can help this endangered species.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580894104
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	02/01/2013
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD890L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Sandra Markle has written over seventy nonfiction books for young readers, including her Growing Up Wild and Outside and Inside series. Her books have won awards from the Boston Globe/Horn Book, NSTA/CBC, ABA, and ALA. She lives in Florida.

Read an Excerpt

It’s May—springtime in Pakistan’s Hindu Kush Mountains. But high up on gravel-strewn slopes, where only the hardiest plants grow, snowflakes still dance in the icy wind.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Snow School"
by .
Copyright © 2013 Sandra Markle.
Excerpted by permission of Charlesbridge.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Over the course of the year, a pair of snow leopard cubs learn all they can from their mother, becoming ready for independence. Starting right after birth, these feline siblings learn about the world from their attentive mother, especially about hunting. From the first, the kittens learn the rules their mother teaches them: It's a dangerous world, leave a scent, be quiet and quick while hunting, guard your food, find shelter in a storm and stay clear of humans. The blood of the hunt is neither sensationalized nor minimized. Facts about snow leopards are interwoven through the story, and the illustrations help explain more esoteric animal words like markhor, ibex and pika. Pakistan's Hindu Kush Mountains are depicted in all their drama, bathed in watercolors of blue and white, from a number of points of view. The animals are rarely shown at rest--always moving to build up their muscles and learn the skills they need to live on their own. It is a temptation to anthropomorphize these felines, but Markle tells their story for the younger reader in a way that allows them to identify with their mutual paths to independence without overdoing that connection. Little human cubs will want to roll and cavort like these snow leopards--and learn more about them. (endnotes, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews