A Cub Explores

January 1, 2005
K-Gr 2 -This brief picture book follows a mother black bear and her baby through a summer afternoon as the cub learns about friends, foes, and food. They play in a cool brook, forage for food, meet a variety of other animals, and settle down for the night. The color-pencil illustrations are realistic, though the cub's size is a bit inconsistent. Unfortunately, the text is sometimes choppy, and there is little sense of excitement or humor in the writing. For simple factual stories about bear cubs, try a photo-essay such as Aubrey Lang's "The Adventures of Baby Bear" (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001) or an easy reader like Joyce Milton's" Bears Are Curious" (Random, 1998) instead." -Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.