Bears: Polar Bears, Black Bears and Grizzly Bears.

________________ CM . . . . Volume III Number 3 . . . . October 4, 1996

cover Bears: Polar Bears, Black Bears and Grizzly Bears.
Deborah Hodge. Illustrated by Pat Stephens.
Toronto: Kids Can Press Limited, 1996. 32 pp, hardcover, $14.95.
ISBN: 1-55074-269-8.

Grades K - 6 / Ages 4 - 12.
Review by Brenda Partridge.
****/4

Did you know:

"...bears can get cavities from eating too much honey? ...all baby bears have blue eyes? ...bears are related to dogs?"

Deborah Hodge has written a new information book about the grizzly bear, the polar bear and the black bear. To make research about this popular animal easy and enjoyable for children, the author organized the information into fourteen two-page chapters, such as "Bear Food", "How Bears are Born", "How Bears Protect Themselves", "Bears and People" and "Bears Around the World".

The material is presented in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, yet very thorough fashion. Adding to the precision and clever presentation are many "bear facts", each marked by a bear symbol and clearly displayed in a separate box with a yellow background. At the end of the book is a glossary, called Words to Know in which, vocabulary such as hibernate, mammal and warm-blooded are explained. For example:

hibernate: to spend the winter in a deep sleep. A hibernating animal cannot be wakened.

To be an effective research tool for younger children a book needs not only a precise table of contents but also a sufficient index. This edition gets full marks for ease of information location. For her first book, Deborah Hodge has found a format that meets the needs of educators and students.

Much credit must also be given to the illustrator Pat Stephens. Without her accurate, appealing, colourful illustrations, this book would not have the same appeal; or, be suitable to as wide a range of users who may include younger children who are unable to read the text. Every page is illustrated and most pages are solidly coloured to the edge of the paper, giving Bears a picture book appeal. Close-up inserts are used to demonstrate internal features of the bear's body and a map of North America clearly demonstrates where bears live.

With the combination of useful, easy-to-understand information and effective illustrations, Bears achieves a high rating. It would be a welcome addition to any elementary school library, public library or home library shelf. Bears: Polar Bears, Black Bears and Grizzly Bears is a part of the "Kids Can Wildlife Series". Other titles include: Wild Cats, Whales and Wild Dogs.

Highly Recommended

Brenda Partridge is a teacher-librarian at Percy Centennial Public School in Warkworth, Ontario.

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Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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