JOHN MUIR

On the heels of Walking with Henry (2002), Locker profiles another of our country’s great nature writers, again including plenty of brief quotations to go with a set of silently eloquent landscape paintings. Between views of Yosemite, where Muir spent so much of his life, the artist sandwiches a series of outdoor scenes with tiny human figures, or now and again a closer glimpse of Muir’s slender, raggedly bearded form. The brief accompanying text combines an appreciation of Muir’s efforts on behalf of wilderness preservation with a smattering of biographical details. Readers will come away appreciating not only his role in the conservation movement, but the skill with which he put his love of nature into words: “I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” Though lacking the finishing touches of a booklist, or even sources for the many quotes, this still makes a memorable introduction to a maverick spirit. (selection of quotes) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)