Up north ath the cabin, I am a great gray dolphin. The lake is my ocean... Up north at the cabin, I am a fearless voyageur, guiding our canoe through the wilderness... Up north at the cabin I am always brave -- even in the dark woods, when blood thumps through my head like old Ojiway drums. The magic of summer, the call of the north woods, and the exuberance of childhood imagination combine here to create a book that will be treasured long after the last autumn leaf has fallen. Grade 1-4--Chall offers readers a trip to the north woods through her carefully chosen words and Johnson's lush paintings. A young girl anticipates her arrival at the beloved cabin, experiences nature's wonders while there, and returns home with her fond memories until the next summer. Each segment of the child's narrative prose poem is accompanied by wonderful, evocative, full-page oil paintings of the family enjoying the lake and the surrounding wood. Up North at the Cabin is to Minnesota what McCloskey's Time of Wonder (Viking, 1957) is to Maine. To read it is to feel the summer breezes--whatever your location, whatever the time of year. -Kathleen Whalin, Belfast Public Library, ME Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. Happy summer days in Minnesota's north woods are evoked in a generously large book with full-bleed paintings whose lush colors are echoed in the ground of the opposing text to make harmonious double spreads. Johnson (The Frog Prince Continued, 1991) breaks new ground here with glowing colors, beautifully observed light, and artfully spare compositions; you can almost feel the sun's last rays or hear the water's lap. Meanwhile, Chall's simple, nicely honed text (her first) recounts the summer's pleasures-- the sunshine that ``sits in my lap all morning'' on the journey north; everyone sitting on the same side of the table ``so we can all watch the loons''; swimming underwater; hearing a moose bellow a warning; water skiing; remembering an Ojibway legend while walking in the dark. Without the compelling drama of McCloskey's Time of Wonder, but--as a vibrant, affectionate tribute to another region--a worthy of standing on the same shelf. (Picture book. 4-9) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Up north ath the cabin, I am a great gray dolphin. The lake is my ocean... Up north at the cabin, I am a fearless voyageur, guiding our canoe through the wilderness... Up north at the cabin I am always brave -- even in the dark woods, when blood thumps through my head like old Ojiway drums. The magic of summer, the call of the north woods, and the exuberance of childhood imagination combine here to create a book that will be treasured long after the last autumn leaf has fallen. Marsha Wilson Chall grew up an only child in Minnesota, where her father told her the best stories. The author of many picture books, including Up North at the Cabin , One Pup's Up , and Pick a Pup , Marsha teaches writing at Hamline University's MFAC program in St. Paul, Minnesota. She lives on a small farm west of Minneapolis with her husband, dog, and barn cats. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher are an illustration team with more than forty picture books in print. Their work has garnered rave reviews and won awards. Their books include My Many Colored Days , Bebop Express , I Walk at Night , New York's Bravest , The Velveteen Rabbit , and The Salamander Room . They were also concept artists for Pixar's Toy Story and A Bug's Life . They live in California with their son.