ANIMAL BABIES ON THE MOUNTAIN!

Animals that inhabit a mountain biome are introduced in this simple board book, one of four.

The other three examine forest, meadow, and river animals, and each volume follows the same format. An adult animal is shown on verso; its baby appears on recto. Each book features six animal pairs. The proper name for each young animal is used, which means there is some repetition of names. For example, the young of both the panda and the wolf are rightly called “cubs.” Nor are the animals exclusive to the habitat assigned by Groves. For example, spiders and “spiderlings” appear in Animal Babies in the Meadow!, but many spider varieties could also live in a forest or on a mountain. These quibbles aside, the thick pages with just one word and one animal per page make the set ideal for sharing with little ones in the naming stage of vocabulary acquisition. Groves’ striking illustrations look like prints overlaid on clean, pastel-colored backgrounds. The pages lack any gloss finishes, relying only on the iconic images of each animal, and the text is in lowercase cursive.

Readers hoping to share beautiful, age-appropriate images and accurate terminology should look no further than this book and its companions, bracing antidotes to the cuteness that floods the board-book shelves.