Yodel the Yearling

January 22, 2018
In this light wildlife primer, naturalist and photographer Holland focuses on a family of black bears. One-year-old “Yodel,” his two siblings, and their mother wake from “a long winter’s nap.” Photographs show the cubs as they clean their fur, chew on sticks, and play in their forest nook (“They roll around with their mouths open, grabbing each other’s fur. Sometimes they look like they are mad at each other, but they are just having fun”). When the cubs’ mother leaves to find food, the cubs climb up into a “babysitter tree” (“Here they will be safe from any danger while she’s gone”). The photographs offer an intimate perspective on the bears and less of a sense of their surrounding environment. Back matter provides bear-related learning activities, including a closer look at the foods bears eat, and black bear signs like tracks and marking trees. Ages 3–8.