A young girl, whose parents will take only jobs they can do outdoors, is convinced that her family is poor; however, when her parents and she assign monetary values to themselves and to the beauties of nature they enjoy, she soon realizes that they are actually millionaires. The illustrations, with their interlocking patterns and animal shapes, offer an appropriate celebration of the desert setting. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Money. Always a problem. A young girl feels her family is too poor, and she calls a family meeting to discuss the question of money. But by giving another definition of rich, her folks set her straight: They are indeed rich in ways immeasurable by the dollar (although they assign monetary values to their pleasures for the purposes of the meeting). The family members lead lives of great deliberation, being where they want to be, doing what they choose to do. Sunrise, ocean waves, the smell of rain, mountain shadows, bird calls--these all add up (to $60,000, to be precise). And, of course, they have each other, which is worth $4,000,000 more. The final tally, without even including what they actually earn, comes to $4,060,000. So they are rich. Baylor's (Your Own Best Secret Place, 1991, etc.) story can be clumsy, even ham-handed, but the message is immediate. More problematic are the illustrations: Peter Max-like psychedelia meets Outdoor Life in a fusion that crashes and burns. (Fiction/Picture book. 7-10)

Ages 6-9. Although this story is unabashedly pedantic, the voice of the disenchanted young narrator is convincing. Calling a family meeting to discuss money, Mountain Girl tells her parents, "It would help if you both had a little more ambition." The nature-loving adults respond with an accounting of their riches. It's worth 20 thousand dollars to work outdoors, another 10 thousand to hear coyotes howling, 5 thousand more to see the changing colors of faraway mountains . . . We get the message, and so does Mountain Girl--perhaps a bit too easily. Still, similarly inclined adults wanting to combat the materialism of the Nintendo-Power Ranger generation may feel this is just what the shaman ordered. With the signature look of a Parnall-Baylor collaboration, the stylized artwork in desert hues has flowing lines and a strong sense of balance. Add this to your collection of stories about values--with a capital V. ~--Julie Corsaro

Gr 3-5-A simple, philosophical, thought-provoking piece. Mountain Girl (nicknamed for her place of birth) would like her parents to earn more money so they could have nicer things. At a family meeting around their ``...old, scratched-up, homemade kitchen table,'' her parents, who work outdoors for a living, convince her and her younger brother that the enjoyment of their natural surroundings and the richness of one another's company are worth a fortune. The girl's first-person account has the feel of a diary. Parnall's familiar, stylized line drawings, colored here with hues of ochre, turquoise, and apple green, provide a dreamlike accompaniment to Baylor's words of wisdom. A devotee of nature, the author reminds readers that, despite the fact that many people may not choose this free-spirited, nonmaterialistic lifestyle, an occasional pause to reflect on personal values is a worthwhile effort. A sound piece of advice.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

With the same prose poetry and sparsely colored line drawings that mark their other collaborations, Baylor and Parnall tell the story of Mountain Girl, who begins to see the wealth in her family's simple lifestyle. Ages 6-9. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved