Gorgeous gouache illustrations and poetic text speak to the beauty and bond offered by nature. Inspired by his friend’s connection with a glacier in Iceland, author Jordan Scott tells the story of a young girl’s early relationship with the environment. Angela and her dad (both white) live near Snæfellsjökull, a huge, ancient glacier in Iceland. When Angela is born, her father takes her outside to see the glacier in the distance, and before she learns to walk, she rides on her father’s back as he hikes up it. “They walked through snowfields thick like pancakes to the glacier’s ice-blue heart. Angela listened to the glacier. Her father held her still in this universe of sound.” As Angela gets older, she walks up the glacier herself, touching the ice, listening, and whispering to it. When she gets older still, and her days get busier, something about her heart sounds strange. Her dad suggests visiting Snæfellsjökull. She makes a promise to the glacier that she will always visit and always listen, and that night, her heartbeat sounds like the name of the glacier: snæ fells jö kull snæ fells jö kull. An Icelandic pronunciation guide and afterword provide context and meaning to this quiet but powerful story about the sounds and impact of nature on human lives.

Award-winning author Jordan Scott’s luminously-illustrated love story of a girl growing up in the shadow of a glacier that’s always there to listen.

Angela listened to the glacier; the glacier listened to Angela.

As soon as she’s born, Angela’s father introduces her to her glacier. He carries her on his back up the icy expanse as the wind makes music of the snow and the water underneath. Over time, Angela gets big enough to walk beside him, and then, to go alone. She tells her glacier everything, and it answers.

But then, life gets busy. Angela’s days fill up with school, homework, violin and soccer and friends. Until one day, Angela’s heart doesn’t sound right anymore. Luckily, Angela’s dad is there to remind her what she needs: a visit to her ancient icy friend.

From the Schneider Family and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning author of I Talk Like a River, Angela’s Glacier is a moving story about growing up without losing yourself, loving nature, and allowing it to love you in return. Diana Sudyka’s breathtaking artwork pulls the reader into a world of warm hugs from shining blue-green ice— and from Dad, too.

An afterword from the real Angela highlights the tragic threat climate change poses to our planet's frozen marvels.