Torke, Kyle. Hiking the Grand Mesa: A Clementine the Rescue Dog Story (Published in 2020 by Loving Healing Press, 5145 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, MI 48205). Two young boys, Coover and Conrad, go with their Grandma and their mighty rescue dog, Clementine, on a desert adventure. They hike through the southern Colorado Dobies, a series of steep hills made from adobe clay that formed as the nearby volcanoes, now extinct, eroded. Their goal is to explore one of the most unique landscapes in Colorado–the Grand Mesa. At first, Coover seems a little sad and lonely at the apparently barren and solitary landscape, but Grandma introduces him to the rich wildlife, both plant and animal, around them, and both boys go tramping through an imaginative journey. What will they see? Where will they go? And what will they do?

Hiking the Grand Mesa is a nature lover’s dream. Beginning readers will be fascinated by the vivid history of the area as described in author Kyle Torke’s clear, detailed text, and by the beautiful scenery depicted in illustrator Barbara Torke’s gorgeous watercolor paintings.

This fun and insightful story is a wonderful, challenging reading experience with vocabulary development, contextual learning, and the encouragement of imagination. From woodpeckers and toads, to cattails and sunflowers, youngsters will be awakened to a whole new world. The first book in the series is Ice Breaking: The Adventures of Clementine the Rescue Dog.