One Day on Pika's Peak

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4 Large type, clear text, and excellent color photos make this glimpse into the life of a weasel especially suitable for primary grades. The biologist-author presents the difficulties of both hunter and hunted in this Rocky Mountain alpine meadow, likening the mother weasel to a lioness hunting zebra, as the diminutive animal brings down a large pika, moles, and meadow mice to feed her eight kits. These other animals are more briefly described, and all are illustrated by a naturalist photographer. The photo of a yawning pika is especially charming, and the young weasels, faces alert, are appealing as they explore the meadow world. Jean George's more inclusive One Day in the Alpine Tundra (Crowell, 1984), with black-and-white sketches, is for slightly older readers. An index and an informal glossary of mountain animals mentioned rounds out the ecological essay. Ruth M. McConnell, San Antonio Pub . Lib .