A mother mountain lion basks in the sun while her roly-poly kits play on the rock ledge beside her. For a simple poem about her, Arnosky (Watching Water Birds, p. 1384, etc.) has created pictures that use warm golds and tawny wheat tones and that contrast the strong muscles of the mother with the relaxed, tumbling bodies of her young. Close-up drawings invite readers to compare the size of kitten to cat; one kitten can easily be capped in its mother's huge paw. At times the pictures are static, e.g., a kitten somersaulting down the mother's hip looks stiff. Still, toddlers will cozy up to these pictures, which do not idealize wild creatures as much as present them for observation in terms that make sense to the very young. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

PreS‘Arnosky's brief text follows a mountain lion and her two cubs through an April afternoon, demonstrating the playfulness of the young animals and the care and teaching provided by their mother: "Their mother gives them everything they need. She keeps them warm. She feeds them milk. She protects them from strangers." The simple, choppy narrative occasionally incorporates more colorful imagery, mirrored in the tawny orange and gold watercolor portraits that fill the double pages: "The little lions climb mother's hilly hips, and tumble down her tail." Arnosky's color tones and skillful use of the page are familiar; however, his energetic cubs and their massive mother are realistically rendered but sometimes take on sweet Disneyesque expressions. Though this small reassuring lesson on animal family life falters a bit, very young animal fans will find the kittens appealing.‘Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

While a mother mountain lion lies on a rocky ledge, her two small cubs climb and tumble and play nearby. In simple, elegant language, Arnosky describes how the cubs are cared for and protected by their mother. Full-page, tawny-colored illustrations show the contrast between the tiny cubs and their large, powerful mother. From HORN BOOK Fall 1998, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Ages 2^-4. With its lingering, close-up look at a mother mountain lion and her young, this simple picture book will give young children a feeling of kinship with the two cubs. As the mother sits on a rocky ledge in the afternoon sun, her babies drink her milk, jump over her legs, climb and crawl between her paws. When they begin to explore the ledge, she brings them back to safety. The pictures give children both a good look at mountain lion anatomy and an entertaining view of playful cubs. The measured words emphasize that while the little ones play and explore, their mother is always there, watching and looking after them. Like the text, the sunny, sensitive watercolor paintings are entertaining and reassuring without falling into sentimentality. A picture book with a fine combination of dignity and playfulness, an appropriate combination for both its subject and its audience. --Carolyn Phelan

Stretching the moments like a sunny spring day, this picture book takes a lingering look at a pair of four-week-old lion cubs while they are completely dependent upon their mother. This wink of time expands within the spare text's gentle pace and the artwork's circumscribed focus on the lion family. With their mother serving as both food source and playground, the cubs nurse, nuzzle into her fur, then "climb/ mother's hilly hips,/ and tumble down her tail." In a continuously golden light, Arnosky's (Rabbits and Raindrops) illustrations reveal the secure but stimulating world of the mountain lion mother. While butterflies, chickadees and hawks take to the air just off the mountain ledge, the cubs venture to its edge. As one nears a plummeting doom, his mother grabs his tail between her teeth and yanks him back to safety. Within this cozy home base, Arnosky manages visual interest through contrast: a sleepy mother with her ever-active brood, the cubs' spotted fur against their mother's uniform color, the flying creatures next to the stone-bound lions. However, youngsters will be drawn most of all to the delightfully tactile kittens with tiny teeth and harmless claws and will likely identify with their playful curiosity. Ages 2-6. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved