Pika Country - by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent & Marlo Garnsworthy (Hardcover)

About the Book

Gorgeous photographs, and clear text introduce readers to the effects of climate change on the pika and on other life-forms in the high mountains.

Book Synopsis

Pikas, tiny rabbit relatives living high in the mountains, serve as an entry point toward understanding the consequences of climate change.

Pikas can't live in temperatures higher than 77 degrees F. As the Earth's temperature rises, pikas must keep moving higher and higher up the mountains to find a cooler climate in which to live. Everything is connected in the natural world. As the pikas livable habitat decreases, the lives of hawks, falcons, pine martins, foxes and the many other creatures that prey upon pikas are affected.

If you are looking for an easily understandable introduction to the consequences of climate change, this is the book for you. Glorious photographs and a well-organized text reveal the key role pikas play in the alpine ecosystem. Helpful diagrams demonstrate the food web that includes this tiny mammal and other plants and animals, also threatened by the changing climate. A glossary, map and list of actions kids can take to help decrease climate change are also included. Free, downloadable activities can be found on the publisher's website.

Review Quotes

Named an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council.

Pikas, tiny rabbit relatives living in high altitudes, serve as an entry point toward understanding the consequences of a warming world. Following At Home With the Beaver, with photos by Michael Runtz (2019), Patent, with co-author Garnsworthy, returns to the idea of the interconnectedness of species with this welcome new title. Hartman's photographs dramatically illustrate a clear, well-organized text that opens with descriptions of the mountainous "pika country" near Yellowstone National Park and the feisty pikas. Readers first see a pika "scurry, scurry, hurry," gathering food for the day and for its winter hay pile. There's a helpful map and photos of the scenery in several seasons. The writers introduce the idea of climate change (printed in boldface and defined, like other important words, in a glossary) and other animals sharing this gradually warming habitat. Not only is the pika's livable world shrinking as the snowline moves up the mountains, there's less of an insulating snowpack in winter and fewer hours with appropriate temperatures for foraging in summer. Photos, diagrams (by Garnsworthy), and words work together to demonstrate the food web that includes this tiny mammal and other plants and animals, also threatened by the changing climate, whose lives connect with theirs. In conclusion, final essays explain today's climate change causes and suggest some personal actions in the realms of transportation, living and eating habits, and sharing information, but no sources or further resources are offered. An effective demonstration of the reverberations of climate change. (Nonfiction. 6-9)--Kirkus Reviews

Beautifully illustrated with full color photography on each page, Pika Country: Climate Change at the Top of the World will take young readers ages 5-9 on a journey to a place they have never ventured before that is beneath a rock pile 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. But despite the remoteness of their homes, the pikas' lifestyle and survival are threatened by Climate Change. Children will enjoy following the story of pikas which is told with lavish photographs by Dan Hartman, and the clear prose of collaborative authors Dorothy Patent and Marlo Garnsworthy, and learn how small actions on our part can have global benefits. Pika Country: Climate Change at the Top of the World is an extraordinary, fun and informative addition to elementary 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 face amid a warming climate. Winner of the National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Book Award, this non-fiction resource stands out through its succinct text and large photographs. Elementary school-aged children can learn about the life of pikas in their chilly alpine environment and how climate change endangers them. Authors Dorothy Hinshaw Patent and Marlo Garnsworthy also help frame how the plight of pikas is connected to predators, pollinators, and alpine plants. This helpful climate change resource contains several food web diagrams and is followed up by a definition of climate change, actions we can take in response to it, and a glossary. -Green Teacher

About the Author

Marlo Garnsworthy is an Australian-American author, illustrator, editor, and polar science and Climate Change communicator. Her published works include fiction and nonfiction--with her illustrations being featured most recently in THE TURTLE DOVE'S JOURNEY: A STORY OF MIGRATION by Madeleine Dunphy. Marlo lives in Wakefield, Rhode Island. To find out more about Marlo and her books, visit www.wordybirdstudio.com.