Snow School

Prolific children's author Sandra Markle and illustrator Alan Marks team up in this gorgeous picture book examination of snow leopards, following two young cubs through their first two years of life, as they learn what they need to know from their mother. From the time when they are still very young, and confined in their mountain den high in Pakistan's Hindu Kush Mountains, through their first forays out, the narrative describes their snowy schooling—the lessons about hunting and safety that they must learn, following their mother through a harsh and cold landscape, until they are ready to set out on their own. The book closes with a note about snow leopards, and a list of further resources...

Markle and Marks have collaborated on show more other titles—Little Bat Lost, Finding Home, A Mother's Journey—but although I have read and enjoyed other titles from both, Snow School is the first of their joint projects I have encountered. I tracked it down because I have recently been reading other juvenile titles about this species—Justin Anderson's Snow Leopard: Ghost of the Mountains and Sy Montgomery's Saving the Ghost of the Mountain: An Expedition Among Snow Leopards in Mongolia—and wanted to see more. I am glad I did, as this was a truly beautiful book! The artwork from Marks, created using watercolor and pencil, is simply gorgeous—it doesn't hurt that the subject matter is gorgeous!—and the narrative from Markle informative and engaging. I liked how the text was structured, which each episode teaching a specific lesson, from learning to be still and silent when hunting to always avoiding humans and their livestock. I would definitely recommend this one to young animal lovers in general, and to any child interested in snow leopards in particular. show less

A snow leopard mother and her two cubs in Pakistan's Hindu Kush Mountians. Engagingly written, informative, and beautifully illustrated.