Synopsis
Describes a day in the life of a grizzly bear family in Yellowstone's high country
Reviews
Grade 2-4?Engaging, photoreal paintings on double-page spreads show a mother grizzly and her two cubs as they emerge from hibernation in Yellowstone National Park, revel in the spring, forage for food, and escape predators. The lovely illustrations and attractive format make this book stand out among many on the subject. The thoughtful, lively, slice-of-life narrative keeps information at a minimum until the author's note, which summarizes the vital facts about these animals. A brief list for further reading and two Web sites are included. Steve Potts's The Grizzly Bear (Capstone, 1997) and Dieter Betz's The Bear Family (Tambourine, 1992) offer more straightforward information, but this appealing presentation makes a worthwhile purchase.?Kathleen McCabe, East Meadow Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A slice-of-life look at a mother grizzly and her two cubs in Yellowstone National Park. After a winter's hibernation, a grizzly ``explodes in a shower of snow from the entrance of its den,'' followed by two three-month-old cubs. Mother grizzly adjusts to the light, reads the wind, and initiates the search for food. She sates herself on roots and bulbs, pulls a ground squirrel from its hole, and spies a hawk without great action. The face of a boar grizzly then significantly fills the page, and mother grizzly confronts the young male over an elk carcass, fighting to protect her cubs with snapping jaw and slashing claws until the male bolts into the woods. Readers interested enough to follow a grizzly through a typical day may pick up tidbits of information along the way, but the overall search for food never emerges as a real story. Snowy landscapes deepened by red sunsets give way to the green, flowering meadows of April in Yellowstone, the perfect naturalistic scenery for outdoor panoramas showcasing the shaggy-coated creatures nuzzling, hunting, loping, tussling, and resting. The horizontal spreads are broken only by left and right hand blocks of text set against a light beige background imitative of aspen barka nice touch. An extensive author's note outlines size, characteristics, and habitat; a list of further reading includes two bear web sites. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Ages 4^-8. This attractive book describes the daily life of a grizzly bear family that lives in Yellowstone National Park. The interesting overview, which reads like an adventure story, includes basic information about the behavior, social structure, growth and development, habits, and characteristics of this endangered species and causes for its endangered status. Additional facts are presented in the author's afterword. A list for further reading, including Web sites, completes the work. Lavish, painterly-style oil illustrations beautifully depict the grizzly bears and their habitat. The readable text is printed on panels that resemble the bark of a tree. Presented in a straightforward manner, this solid introduction will be a handsome addition to any picture-book nonfiction collection. April Judge
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