Nina E. Eide/Inger Lise Belsvik: LEMMINGS – A HEARTBEAT IN THE MOUNTAINS

Lemen – fjellets hjerte
Published by Mangschou Forlag, 2020

Cover of "Lemmings – a Heartbeat in the Mountains"

The lemming is a small hamster, with a thick sausage-like body, with short legs, and tiny ears. It is easy to recognize as they have a very characteristic appearance, with yellowy-orange fur speckled with black spots on their heads and along their backs. During the “lemming years” the furious lemmings are everywhere in the mountains. There are millions. But suddenly they are all gone, and many years can pass before you see a lemming again. Why?

In this book, you can follow the Scandinavian lemmings through the different seasons of the Nordic mountains, and through peak years and low years. You can read about the lemming and how it manages to survive the hard winter under the snow and eat the moss no other animal likes to eat!

Climate changes, causing wetter and milder winter climate, can make the lemmings disappear, and if that happens, many other species will be gone with them. In this book you will learn about how species are connected in a vulnerable network, and why it is so important to stop the climate from changing more. You can also get some tips to how you and your family can contribute to stop it. Lemmings is available in English, German and Swedish. 52 pages. Format 20,5 × 24,5 cm.

Translation rights sold to Russia.

Nina E. Eide (b. 1970) is a senior scientist at Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. She has previously written a book about the artic fox; with focus on the animal and the eco systems. This book was nominated for the best children’s book by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture.

Illustrator and author Inger Lise Belsvik (b. 1961) is educated at Kingston University, England, and at Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo. Belsvik has illustrated about 35 picture books. She is also the author of two children’s books. Belsvik has received the Norwegian Ministry of Culture’s Illustrator prize twice.