Received the California Reading Association's Eureka! Book Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Gold AwardNamed an "Outstanding Science Trade Book" by the National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book CouncilNamed one of “The Best Children’s Books of the Year” by the Children’s Book Committee and the Bank Street College ofEducation"Pikas, tiny rabbit relatives living in high altitudes, serve as an entry point toward understanding the consequences ofa warming world. FollowingAt Home With the Beaver, with photos by Michael Runtz (2019), Patent, with co-author Garnsworthy, returns to the idea of the interconnectednessof species with this welcome new title. Hartman’s photographs dramatically illustrate a clear, well-organized text thatopens with descriptions of the mountainous “pika country” near Yellowstone National Park and the feisty pikas. Readersfirst see a pika “scurry, scurry, hurry,” gathering food for the day and for its winter hay pile. There’s a helpful mapand photos of the scenery in several seasons. The writers introduce the idea of climate change (printed in boldface anddefined, like other important words, in a glossary) and other animals sharing this gradually warming habitat. Not onlyis the pika’s livable world shrinking as the snowline moves up the mountains, there’s less of an insulating snowpack inwinter and fewer hours with appropriate temperatures for foraging in summer. Photos, diagrams (by Garnsworthy), andwords work together to demonstrate the food web that includes this tiny mammal and other plants and animals, alsothreatened by the changing climate, whose lives connect with theirs. In conclusion, final essays explain today’s climatechange causes and suggest some personal actions in the realms of transportation, living and eating habits, and sharinginformation, but no sources or further resources are offered. An effective demonstration of the reverberations ofclimate change. (Nonfiction. 6-9)"—Kirkus Reviews"Beautifully illustrated with full color photography on each page, "Pika Country: Climate Change at the Top of theWorld" will take young readers ages 5-9 on a journey to a place they have never ventured before that is beneath a rockpile on a lonely mountain top. There they will meet the pikas, or rock rabbits. These scurrying, squeaking, industrious,and exceedingly cute mammals make their living harvesting grass and wildflowers during the brief alpine summers. Butdespite the remoteness of their homes, the pikas' lifestyle and survival are threatened by Climate Change. Children willenjoy following the story of pikas which is told with lavish photographs by Dan Hartman, and the clear prose ofcollaborative authors Dorothy Patent and Marlo Garnsworthy, and learn how small actions on our part can have globalbenefits. "Pika Country: Climate Change at the Top of the World" is an extraordinary, fun and informative addition toelementary school and community library Wildlife and Environmental Studies picture book collections and reading lists."—Midwest Book Review"Pikas may seem cute and cuddly, but in this book they serve as a clear representation of the dangers many species faceamid a warming climate. Winner of the National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Book Award, thisnon-fiction resource stands out through its succinct text and large photographs. Elementary school-aged children canlearn about the life of pikas in their chilly alpine environment and how climate change endangers them. Authors DorothyHinshaw Patent and Marlo Garnsworthy also help frame how the plight of pikas is connected to predators, pollinators, andalpine plants. This helpful climate change resource contains several food web diagrams and is followed up by adefinition of climate change, actions we can take in response to it, and a glossary." –Green Teacher
