The Impossible Mountain

by David Soman

Overview

You are never too small for a big adventure.

Anna and her little brother Finn have lived their whole lives safe behind the stone wall of their village, never knowing what lay beyond. Until the day they peek over the edge and see the Mountain for the first time. Now, there's no stopping them. Not even the villagers who say it will be impossible.

The natural wonders of this epic journey are brought to breath-taking life by New York Times bestselling artist David Soman. Join Anna and Finn on a grand adventure where bravery, ingenuity, and grit will help them blaze a trail up the Impossible Mountain, and beyond their wildest dreams.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316427746
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	11/30/2021
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	10.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

David Soman has illustrated many beautiful picture books including the New York Times best-selling Ladybug Girl, which he co-created with his wife Jacky Davis. He is an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and lives with his family in upstate New York where he often walks the mountains outside his studio, and where sometimes, his yard is visited by a Great and Not so Terrible Bear.

Editorial Reviews

09/27/2021

Classically drafted, light-filled spreads follow a pair of child heroes through this mountainfaring adventure by Soman (the Ladybug Girl series). It opens in a European-style walled village with a huddle of red-tiled roofs, where Anna and little brother Finn, both white, spy a mountain beyond the village walls. It’s so big that it dwarfs them, the village, and the surrounding countryside. Knowing that she has to climb it, Anna persuades small Finn to come with her, resisting the warnings of neighbors. “Climbing the Mountain is impossible!” says the blacksmith. “You’ll never get past the River!” “I can,” says Anna. And she does. She and Finn ford the river, find a path across a sheer rock face, and spend the night in a cave with an unexpected companion, at every turn finding resources and resolve. It’s a story about setting a goal and pursuing it in a saga refreshingly free of evildoers. And there’s nothing juvenile or cute about Soman’s colored pencil, gouache, and watercolor portraits of thundering cataracts and monumental cliffs, which confer dignity and importance on Anna and Finn’s journey. Ages 3–6. Agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Soman crafts a beautiful story, wrapping it in a satisfying adventure that teaches readers to look beyond their safe and familiar world, to believe in themselves, to keep struggling, and to bring a good friend along any impossible journey."—School Library Journal

"Classically drafted, light-filled spreads follow a pair of child heroes through this mountainfaring adventure by Soman."—Publishers Weekly

"The illustrations depict the majesty of forest and mountains with assurance and are especially successful in their atmospheric infusion of light and shadow."—Kirkus

"Soman’s gorgeous, painterly illustrations — watercolors mixed with gouache and pencil — play gracefully with scale, doing justice to both mighty landscape and small, intrepid siblings."—New York Times Book Review

"Enjoy this as a modern fairy tale or dig deep to explore the subtext. Both will be pleasing reading experiences."—Booklist

From the Publisher

09/03/2021

PreS-Gr 2—Mountains call to us with their grandeur, their difficulty, their inscrutability. They beckon us onward and upward. Anna is a young girl with purple hair who has grown up with her little brother Finn in a walled city. She has been told that the huge, stone wall protects everyone, but when she finally looks over the wall, she is completely unprepared for the dramatic, snow-capped mountain that she sees thrusting upward. At that moment, she knows she'll leave the safety of the village to climb the mountain and that she'll bring along Finn. As the two young children set off, the entire village urgently reminds them that they are being foolish. Undeterred, they leave. Fabulous spreads depict the great and terrifying beauties of nature that the children encounter, from the raging waterfall to the den of a gigantic bear. By taking obstacles one at a time and by supporting each other, they reach the summit. As they stand atop their known world, they realize how small their village is, but they also realize that the world is full of mountains "waiting to be climbed." VERDICT Soman crafts a beautiful story, wrapping it in a satisfying adventure that teaches readers to look beyond their safe and familiar world, to believe in themselves, to keep struggling, and to bring a good friend along any impossible journey.—Sally James, South Hillsborough Elem. Sch., CA

School Library Journal

2021-09-24
A classic hero’s-journey tale of perseverance and determination.

Anna and her younger brother, Finn, live in a medieval-looking village surrounded by a circular stone wall, which, they are told, keeps them safe from the “scary, unknown world.” Both are illustrated as White. But Anna (who has purple hair—a visual heads up to her nonconformity) wants more from life. She and Finn scale the wall and see not only the whole of their village spread out below, but, when turning around, a huge, majestic mountain. Anna determines to climb it and tells Finn he is coming too. The children are discouraged by the townspeople, but despite tales of a rushing river, a terrible bear, and steep cliffs, the children go anyway. The children face their obstacles with perseverance and courage, finding a way across the river, befriending the bear, and outwitting wolves, among other challenges, and eventually reach their goal. This metaphorical story is comfortably obvious in its delivery and intention—although a nudge of encouragement to persevere may be just what readers need these days. The illustrations depict the majesty of forest and mountains with assurance and are especially successful in their atmospheric infusion of light and shadow. A few townspeople are illustrated with brown skin; most are illustrated as White.(This book was reviewed digitally.)

A comfortable quest ably illustrated. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews