One summer morning a parachute floated down to a meadow high in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. It carried an unusual passenger —a young beaver. Amik had been trapped in his valley home by forest rangers, and flown to the mountains. The Forest Service needed beavers to build a dam in a swift-flowing mountain stream. The dam would keep rich topsoil from washing away and restore life to the burned-over land.

The story of Amik and his mate —their habits, their amazing skills, the birth and raising of their kits —has been told here with enthusiasm and precise observation. The author's knowledge and affection for the western land and its inhabitants is handsomely matched by Matthew Kalmenoff's illustrations.

From the dust jacket