DADS READ: "Lucia and the Light" by Phyllis Root & Mary GrandPré: how to save the world with backcountry skiing

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It's rare that a book begins an adventure with backcountry skiing and ends with Trolls, but that is why "Lucia and the Light" by author Phyllis Root and illustrator Mary GrandPré is one of my favorite children's books.  

One of my passions is backcountry skiing/ski mountaineering, it has been a dormant passion for quite some time, but being with a few friends in mostly unoccupied wilderness, slowly ascending a narrow track on skis fitted with climbing skins is one of my favorite places to feel "a return to a genuine and simple way of life" and tap into my inner Tao.  My love for the mountains, skiing, and being self-propelled all factor into my love for this book, but it also has another strong feminine role model my daughters can look up to. 

The story of "Lucia and the Light" involves a mysterious loss of light, and a young girl's quest to set out on skis to climb to the top of the mountains to figure out what happened.  

As is often the setting for Phyllis Root stories, the family is filled with strong female characters.  A mother, an oldest daughter - Lucia, a younger infant brother, and animals - her milk white cat ends up saving the day a few times.  We first meet the family in the mountains in winter.

However, a strange darkness overtakes the mountains, and persists so long, that Lucia finally decides she needs to find out what is wrong.


She ventures further and further into the mountains without any sign of light.


As she reaches the mountain top, it is still mysteriously dark, and filled with odd rocks that end up being . . .  TROLLS!!!


The Trolls quickly surround Lucia and boastfully explain how they managed to capture the sun, and wrap it into a large sheet.  Through Lucia's cunning, Lucia is able to trick the Trolls, and with the help of her cat - they free the sun.


At last triumphant, Lucia is able to return home with the light at her back.


And finally rest in the warmth of home.


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