Peter Parnall

The illustrations the author created for his book are so simple yet give just the right amount of detail to present all the woodland creatures that are talked about inside the book. The author gives readers a different perspective to think about how we look at obvious objects. He dives deep into how the woodpile is useful and all the ways it helps him and the animals in the area. I think this would be a great book to present to a classroom, because it would have children think outside the box of what they may be accustomed to and find out different ways one things can be used.… (altro)

Published in 1971 and “dedicated to the creatures that lived there”, The Mountain is a remarkably hard-hitting, even blunt, picture book about the devastating impact of humans on the natural world. The early pages suggest that readers are going to get a predictable cumulative text in the manner of “This is the House that Jack built”. However, in this first section, author/illustrator Peter Parnall isn’t interested in what humans have constructed but in what nature once provided: “This is the mountain that stood in the West./These are the flowers that grew there.”

In simple and generic language, Parnall goes on to itemize the flora and fauna that once flourished in this place: moles, birds, trees, and deer. His India-ink illustrations, with some added colour, highlight the textures of living things: the pattern of fur on a mole, the layered feathers on birds, the grain of tree bark, the pleated underside of a mushroom top. Then the people come—a father with two young children, hiking. They’re depicted as small, smaller than the natural world, and apparently inconsequential. Parnall then shows another small group: a mother, father, and a boy who’s climbed a tree. A fearless squirrel perches on the reclining father’s knee. At the same time that Parnall gives us this image, his text pattern breaks, as he notes that these people, in their love for the mountain, want to keep it just the way it is.

Parnall’s text pauses for some pages after the words: “So, Congress passed a law making the mountain a national park and a road was built.” The remainder of the book presents the reader with illustrations that are gradually drained of colour, which show the increasing degradation of the mountain habitat. Parking lots and walkways are paved; bridges, picnic tables, and outhouses are constructed. And the people! As the pages turn, they appear in greater and greater numbers, some with their dogs. Trees are cut to make more room for humans, and though there are litter bins, people leave their rubbish behind them. A bear is walks away from the forest, bearing a placard that reads: “Somewhere else or bust.”

The land becomes unrecognizable, and Parnall’s final image is of “a flower . . . trying to grow on the mountain that stood in the West.” The human effort to preserve ironically desecrates.

This may be an old book, but the message has only become more urgent. Picture book production has changed a great deal since the seventies, and, at first glance, the book looks a bit primitive by today’s standards, but the illustrations are rich in detail. I think kids would still get a lot out of this book. Pair it with The Lorax and The Great Kapok Tree.

Rating: 3.5… (altro)