National Parks have not been around forever.  There were many steps required to create a protected lands system in the United States.  Theodore Roosevelt played a pivotal role during one of those important points in history.  This book tells the story of one camping trip which influenced Roosevelt’s passionate advocacy.  In the middle of a busy trip across the states, President Roosevelt spent several days with the naturalist John Muir, camping in the land which would become Yosemite National Park.  This is an approachable piece of a much larger story, told in simple, concrete terms.  The men are referred to using their childhood nicknames, and the story is told chronologically, with short paragraphs on nearly every page.  The text is complimented by full color illustrations, which are surrounded by white space until the men enter the wild land, and which then engulf the pages.  Mordicai Gerstein’s depictions of redwood forests and Yosemite Valley are particularly stunning.  This is a lovely story spotlighting a little-known piece of history in a way that will be approachable to young and old alike.