ANGELA'S GLACIER

A girl forms an intimate friendship with an Icelandic natural wonder.

On the day she’s born, Angela’s father introduces her to Snæfellsjökull, an enormous glacier visible from Reykjavik. Before Angela can walk, they hike there, daughter atop Dad’s back. Her father teaches her to say the glacier’s name using the rhythm that their footfalls tap out: “SNÆ (left foot) FELLS (right foot) JÖ (left foot) KULL (right foot).” (The title page offers pronunciation guidance.) As Angela grows, she makes solo treks and listens, with her whole body, to the glacier’s colors, sounds, and temperature. Angela also lets the glacier listen to her as she confides secrets. But eventually life intrudes, and she spends less time hiking. Her heart feels different; her father guesses she’s stayed away too long. Angela returns and reacquaints herself with her friend. She knows she can’t halt the passage of time—indeed, an afterward notes that because of climate change, the glacier will be gone within 20 years—but promises she’ll always visit and listen. That night, her heart beats the rhythm of her beloved friend’s name. This is a gentle story about how a bond with nature can transform one’s life; it may inspire readers to engage with their own surroundings. The lovely illustrations, created with gouache watercolors enhanced digitally and dominated by blues, capture the glacier’s magnificence and Angela’s fierce love. She and her dad are light-skinned.

A reminder not only of nature’s delicate beauty, but also of its fragility.