HOW MOUNTAINS ARE MADE

A charming interracial group of young children set out one Saturday to climb a local mountain. When they stop to rest, some 4,000 feet above the town, they find a fossil of an animal which lived millions of years ago when the mountain was the bottom of an ancient sea. That stimulates a discussion of how mountains are formed: folded, fault-block, dome, underwater ranges, and cone- shaped. Zoehfeld (What Lives in a Shell?, 1994, not reviewed, etc.) presents plenty of good basic information in this Stage 2 Let's- Read-And-Find-Out Science title. The colorful illustrations add appeal, but the shifting perspectives may confuse literal-minded readers. In one picture, children rest on the hill; in another, they shift the eight huge plates that make up the earth as if they were puzzle pieces. A little explanation will go a long way, though, and Zoehfeld and Hale's affection for the subject comes through on every page. (Nonfiction. 7-9)