“[H]ow do you / climb a mountain? / one step at a time …” A brown-skinned child and their family set out to climb dormant South Sister volcano. Leaving their campground at sunrise, they follow a trail through the forest, taking note of wildlife both pesky (mosquitos) and endearing (tiny toads). The volcano itself is a “pumice desert” of “gray lava domes,” covered in layers of snow and bobcat tracks. The narrator passes other hikers and a marmot, spots birds of prey and butterflies galore. Near the top, gray stone gives way to “cinders underfoot— / the red I saw blazing at dawn.” The family’s effort pays off when they reach the summit. The view is majestic, the “tiny pond / like a great blue eye,” “the world— / looking like a big map / of the world.” Thankfully, the route down is easier: “sliding fast— down the snowfield / that I slogged up” before a rest at the lake and a return trek through the woods. The narrator is not tired but energized and inspired after a day of adventure. “[T]rying to sleep— / what mountain will I climb / next?” Written in haiku—the back matter specifies that the poetry form does not have to be in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern—the author packs the text of this outdoor adventure with vivid imagery and details of the natural world. The book’s trim size allows for wide views of the varied landscape.

Through haiku, a young boy narrates his family’s invigorating hike to the peak of Oregon’s South Sister volcano.

For centuries, haiku has offered meditation on the grace and majesty of nature. In Climbing the Volcano, old meets new as a young protagonist uses the poetic form to voice his wonder. Trekking uphill, the family encounters tiny toads, colorful butterflies, soaring birds of prey, and so much more to see, do, and feel.

dormant volcano—
but at sunrise each day
it blazes

Climbing the Volcano is a call to adventure in the natural world, and a wonderful introduction to poetic forms. Young readers will be inspired to summit their own peaks and to find their own voices to share what they discover there. Whether you live in the shadow of a volcano, amid sprawling flatlands, or anywhere in between, Climbing the Volcano invites you to get out there and explore.

Jennifer K. Mann’s breezy, childlike artwork harmonizes with Curtis Manley’s poetry to detail this mesmerizing Pacific Northwest journey.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection