A gorgeously illustrated book about a snow leopard in a Tibetan valley. Unfortunately, the plot made little sense to me. ( )

High in the Pamir mountains a guardian spirit or Mergichan, in the form of a snow leopard, watches over a remote and peaceful valley. She sings the stars to life, clothes the world in white, and builds walls of ice to protect the village in the valley. Growing old, she begins to search for a replacement, her song finding a young girl, and speaking to her in her dreams. When soldiers invade the village, the cat collects the young girl, and drives the interlopers away with dreams of demons. Teaching her new charge everything she needs to know, the snow leopard departs for the stars, leaving the girl transformed into a snow leopard herself - the new guardian of the valley...

The Snow Leopard is a beautiful book! It features a lovely, evocative text and gorgeous illustrations. "From the beginning of time, out of the silence, snow leopard sang the stars to life, the sun to rise and the moon to wax and wane. High above the hidden valley, her song clothed the world in white and built a crackling fortress of snow, buttressed with ice, to keep all things safe and secret." So the narrative begins, drawing the reader into a magical world from the very first word. The artwork is every bit as enchanting, capturing the beauty of its eponymous feline guardian, and of the harsh mountain world around her. The paler, muted shades used to depict the leopard and the mountainside contrast beautifully with the warmer colors of the human world.

All in all this was an outstanding picture-book, and might have gotten one of my rare five-star ratings, were it not for my one criticism. Although I do appreciate that Morris took the time to mention the idea of the Mergich realm in her brief foreword, and the idea of guardian spirits called Mergichan, I am at something of a loss to understand why she failed to specify that these are not her own creation - not a work of 'fantasy,' as I have seen this book labeled - but come from the traditional stories of the Wakhi people. This ethnic group lives in the Wakhan region of Central Asia, in Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, and based on this one tantalizing glimpse of their beliefs, seem to have a fascinating traditional culture. I wish that there was more available to read about them. I also wish that Morris had given them credit, not for her story, but for the inspiration for it. Due to that omission, I subtracted a star from my rating. Leaving it aside, this is an outstanding book. ( )

A stunningly illustrated fantasy. ( )