Maxwell's Mountain by Shari Becker

Maxwell's Mountain by Shari Becker, illustrated by Nicole E. Wong

Rating: 5 stars

Last week we were at REI, one of favorite places to buy unnecessary things just to help out the economy a bit, looking for a few unnecessary things for our upcoming trip to Colorado.  (A trip that we called our second honeymoon because of The Berenstein Bears and the Week at Grandma's, where Brother and Sister stay with their grandparents because Mama and Papa go on a second honeymoon.  Lorelei and Ben's grandparents were coming to them, but it was the same idea.)  We found a few things for us, but we found a few things for the kids, too.  Namely, this book.

First, before I describe the book, I have to tell you that even though we read an insane number of books (too many? I often wonder), we don't buy many.  In fact, the library has almost ruined the bookstore for us because there are so many we can check out, and of course we can't ever buy a ton at the bookstore...  So when I buy a book, it's got to be a really great one.

And this one is!

I was thrilled to find a book that talked about hiking, something Jonathan and I would be doing in Colorado.  Lorelei, Ben, and I had gone hiking on our field trip last Wednesday (doesn't it look like Ben's climbing up a mountain?), so they already had a hiking experience under their tiny belts.  But this book took hiking to a higher level...

Maxwell, the little boy in the book, looks around the playground one day and decides that all the stuff he sees on it are just a little expected, a little ordinary, a little plain.  Then he spots a mountain (really, a big hill) next to the playground and he decides to climb it.  This is where I have to stop and make a list of the things I love about this book:

First, I love the fact that he comes up with the idea himself.  No grown up suggests, no big sister orders, and no bully dares him to do it.  He just decides "I'm going to climb that."  This is a rare book where the main character sets a goal for himself.

Second, I love that he prepares for it, smartly.  He recognizes (with help from his parents) that he can't just climb all the way to the top the very same day.  He has to train for it.  As a marathoner, I love that he puts in the effort to achieve his goal--and that the goal is tough.

Third, I love that he makes a list of things he needs.  Any book that includes a list gets two thumbs up in my book...  Lorelei sometimes writes on her own and I ask her what she's writing, to which she replies: "A list."  A little scary, but funny!

Fourth, I love that his parents let him do it by himself.  They stand at the bottom and watch--this is 2010, of course--but they trust him and have faith in him, and let him have the sense of accomplishment that comes from doing it by himself.

Fifth, and this is definitely similar to the second thing up there, I love that this is a physical goal, and one that is done outside.  We all need to get outside more (I type from indoors), even on the hottest or coldest of days.  This book is a great reminder of that.

This book is more than worthy of buying--it's a book about setting goals and achieving them.  And about lists, too!