We do a lot of reading around here. When we aren't playing outside we like to read about people playing outside. Or about animals. Or nature, in general.

One of the newest books we've been reading is Mark the Mountain Guide by Mark Seaton.

Follow up:

(I bought the book from a blogging pal at Trailmix.net and I love it over there. Check them out. Unfortunately, I can't find the book on their site right now, so I am giving you the Amazon link. And so the FCC doesn't get mad at me I should tell you that I paid for the book myself and no one influenced this review. If you buy something from Amazon through this site I get a little commission that helps pay for my time here.)

Back to the book.

Mark the Mountain Guide is hanging out at his mountaineering school when an avalanche blocks his mountain path. He and his mountaineering students--a bear, a dog and three marmots--have to harness their skills to get back to the base camp via an alternate route. The route includes crossing Grumpy Gorge, trekking across Sorbet Glacier and scaling the Applestrudelhorn.

After the story there is a nonfiction section about avalanches, mountaineering equipment and mountain ecology. The book comes with a little carabiner and some cord so you can practice tying knots. Or clipping your little brother.

It's meant for ages 4-8, but my just-three-year-old loves it. So do I (and I am slightly older than 8).

We now play a game called "Mark the Mountaineer" where Anders and I tie ourselves together with a rope for safety. We then climb over all the furniture in the house while "mountaineering". Anders and I even roped up to go to the library last week.

Author Mark Seaton is an internationally qualified Mountain Guide who has lived and worked in the European Alps since 1992 so he knows what he is talking about.

Why I like this book
It's adorable and a great introduction to mountaineering. We've read it many, many times in the three weeks we've owned it. Even though the place names are fanciful, the mountaineering aspects are pretty realistic. The non fiction section at the end explains the mountain phenomena in the story and includes a glossary of mountain terms. There are instructions for building an igloo. Where else will your child learn what a crampon is?

The illustrations are amazing. I want to frame them.

But...
I wish there were female characters in this book other than the mother marmot waiting at base camp with hot chocolate. I know plenty of chicks who kick butt in the mountains and I want my boys to know about them, too. I mean, they know me, but there are other mountain mamas out there and we should be represented in children's fiction.

(I wrote the author, Mark Seaton with a link to this post. He emailed me back with this message "I smiled when I read the bit about the balance being wrong in terms of strong female role models as we worked very hard on this. The inspiration for the 3 marmots were my three daughters who are very proud of their role in the book. All 3 are as tough as nails , the middle one Florence has a national ski ranking of 5. Andrea the eldest skied the famous Valley Blanche [ the longest off piste ski run in the world] in half an hour at the age of 6. Most good adults would take an entire day. She is a mad keen Canyoner providing inspiration for the 2nd book The youngest Sophie 4 is not far behind her two big sisters and already has 2 years rock climbing under her belt." My bad.)

Get the book. You and your mini-mountaineers will love it.

Mark the Mountain Guide by Mark Seaton

This one is on my wish list, too. Have any of you read it?

Mark the Mountain Guide and the Compass Adventure by Mark Seaton