Climb On!

A lovely—and needed—book about the rewards of persistence and Black people enjoying nature.

“Mouté! Climb on!” A hike to the summit of a tropical peak has a father and child bonding through movement in this effervescent book by Paul and Alcántara. Filling backpacks with water, snacks, and a first aid kit, the book’s brown-skinned protagonists follow a lush, animal-filled path that has them swinging past a waterfall, climbing a spindly ladder, and scaling rocks until, at last, they reach the top with its views of the town below. Paul’s staccato prose fluidly mixes Creole and English for a rhythmic effect that emphasizes the exertion on display: “Fé vit. Hurry up!/ Step./ Breathe./ Sweat.” Bursting with verdant foliage, Alcántara’s exuberant illustrations capture the physicality of the story through varied perspectives. A final scene prompts readers to seek-and-find creatures that appear throughout, but even without this layer of directed interactivity, the creators’ combined efforts create a father-child adventure that readily engages. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

PreS-Gr 3-An adventurous girl has her sights set on climbing the summit of the mountain that is behind their family's home. Her father has his sights set on watching futbol on the couch all day. Promises had been made, so he reluctantly heads for the mountain with his daughter. She has already filled her backpack with their essentials: water, snacks, and a first aid kit. The hike is challenging, and the father is not enthusiastic at first. But his little girl's excitement and wonder at all she is seeing is contagious, and he becomes as observant and interested as she is. They ford a stream, swing on a vine, and climb on a ladder along the way. Ultimately, they reach the summit, and the view of the valley below makes all their climbing worthwhile. As they descend, they talk excitedly about everything they saw and did. Creole words pair up nicely with English ones, although there is no pronunciation guide. The art depicting the tropics is colorful and lush. VERDICT This is a lovely father-daughter story for the shelves, about an adventure that ends up surprising them both.-Joan Kindig, James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA © Copyright 2021.

The colorful illustrations work well on many levels, from broad landscapes to details of plants and animals, from the faces and bodies that reveal the two characters’ emotions to the sense of motion created as they walk, run, climb, slip, and (clasping vines) swing though the tropical forest.

The endpapers encourage readers to go back through the book to find a variety of creatures hidden on the pages.