Rebecca L. Johnson - A Walk in the Tundra

Second Editions

2nd Edition

by Rebecca L. Johnson

with illustrations by Phyllis V. Saroff

Lerner Publications Minneapolis

For Adelyn

Text copyright 2021 by Rebecca L. Johnson
Illustrations copyright 2021 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
Map on page 8 by Laura Westlund 2021 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the
prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion
of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

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An imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

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Main body text set in Garth Graphic Std.
Typeface provided by Adobe Systems.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Johnson, Rebecca L., author. | Saroff, Phyllis V., illustrator.
Title: A walk in the tundra / by Rebecca L. Johnson ; with illustrations by Phyllis V.
Saroff.
Description: 2nd edition. | Minneapolis : Lerner Publications , 2021. | Series: Biomes
of North America | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience:
Ages 812 | Audience: Grades 46 | Summary: The tundra is a windy and cold
landscape. But the closer you look, the more life you see. Mosses, grasses, and
wildflowers grow in the thin soil. Animals from bees to bears depend on the life
growing in this chilly habitat Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020033813 (print) | LCCN 2020033814 (ebook) | ISBN
9781728429274 (library binding) | ISBN 9781728429281 (paperback) | ISBN
9781728429298 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Tundra ecologyJuvenile literature. | TundrasJuvenile literature.
Classification: LCC QH541.5.T8 J65 2021 (print) | LCC QH541.5.T8 (ebook) | DDC
577.5/86dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033813
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033814

Manufactured in the United States of America
1-49450-49516-8/4/2020

Words

to Know

ALGAE (AL-jee) tiny, plant-like living
things

ARCTIC the cold region around the
North Pole, north of the Arctic Circle

BACTERIA (bak-TEE-ree-uh) microscopic,
one-celled living things found almost
everywhere

BIOME (BYE-ohm) a major community
of living things that covers a large area,
such as a grassland or a forest

CLIMATE (KLYE-mut) a regions usual
pattern of weather over a long period
of time

CYGNETS (SIG-nets) baby swans

DISGUISE (dis-GIZE) something that
hides a living things true identity

EXTINCT no longer living on Earth

FUNGI (FUHN-gye) living things such
as mushrooms or molds that get
their food by breaking down dead
plant and animal matter

LICHEN (LYE-ken) small, crusty
living things made up of fungi and
algae growing together

PERMAFROST (PUR-muh-frawst)
permanently frozen ground

POLLEN fine, powdery material
made by flowers. Pollen is often
yellow.

PREDATORS (PREH-duh-turz)
animals that hunt and eat other
animals

PREY (pray) animals that are hunted
and eaten by other animals

SHRUB a low-growing plant with
woody stems and branches

TUNDRA a cold, treeless plain
near the top of the world

Cold wind

across the arctic tundra

Overhead, a snowy owl soars through the pale blue
sky. Spring sunlight glows on her broad white
wings.

Something small and furry moves in the grass.
The owl swoops. She catches a lemming in her long,
sharp claws. But this food is not for her. The owl
has hungry chicks to feed. With the lemming in her
beak, she spreads her wings and flies off across the
arctic tundra.

Tundra. The word sounds like the place. Its
lonely, windy, and cold. There isnt a tree in sight,
just mile after mile of empty plain. The arctic
tundra is so wide and open it seems as if the land
could swallow the sky.

Where is the tundra? If you fly south from the
North Pole, arctic tundra is the first land you see.
It covers the northern parts of all the continents that
surround the top of the world. In North America,
tundra stretches from the Arctic Ocean south to the
middle of Canada.

In some places on the
tundra, rolling hills
rise to rugged slopes
(above) . Other parts
of the tundra are
almost flat (right) .