ALASKA

Gill connects Endres’s eye-filling nature photos with bits of Alaskan history, engagingly awkward rhymed stanzas set off in a larger typeface, pithy advice for newly arrived “cheechakos” (“Never go into the woods by yourself. Take a friend. You can’t outrun the bear, but you might outrun your buddy”) and rapturous commentary on the state’s wildlife, modern and traditional cultures, physical features and seasonal changes. Aside from one view of an oil-soaked stretch of coastline, the general tone is light, upbeat and welcoming, and whether driven by pleasure or purpose, readers will linger over both the pictures and the word portraits. (map) (Nonfiction. 8-10)