Something About a Bear

PreS-Gr 2—Children who love bears should relish the realistic, lush watercolors in this close-up glimpse of eight different ursines—the moon bear, sun bear, sloth bear, brown bear, spectacled bear, American black bear, giant panda, and polar bear—featured on full spreads accompanied by brief narratives that provide facts about hunting range, habitats, coloration, foods, even predators. The informational passages are clear, straightforward, and easy for children to understand. The paintings depict the bears' size and muscularity, though they generally don't give a sense of movement, and some of the animals look alike, which may make it difficult for readers to differentiate among them. A confusing spread displays a rare white black bear, which children may mistake for a polar bear. The final spread shows all of them together, perhaps enabling children to distinguish among them, but there's no indication of whether the relative sizes of the animals shown are accurately drawn to scale; this seems unlikely. The somewhatodd ending suggests that the "very best bear of all is…your bear" and shows a real bear holding a teddy. The useful concluding spread includes websites and gives additional information about each bear, though the reading level is more advanced. An additional purchase.—Carol Goldman, Queens Library, NY