KAMI AND THE YAKS

A deaf Sherpa lad braves lightning and hail to search for his family’s missing yaks in this handsomely packaged, original tale. A small figure in Dodson’s wide, rocky landscapes, Kami sets out on his own before sunrise to find out why the yaks haven’t come down from the mountain, as is their wont. Eventually he finds them, protecting a young one whose leg is stuck. Despite a hailstorm that makes his trip back home to fetch help a slippery, dangerous one, and then an inability to explain in words to his father and older brother where he has been, he prevails in the end and proudly leads the animals back down the trail. The writing is sometimes pedestrian—“His mittens got wet and icy”—and the hail looks like a gentle snowfall in the pictures, but children will admire the young hero, both for his intrepid spirit, and for his animated use of gesture and playacting to convey the yaks’ plight to his confused family. (afterword) (Picture book. 7-9)