Eat Like A Bear

American Library Association Notable Book, 2014

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April Pulley Sayre

Sayre is the author and photo-illustrator of over 65 scientific picture books which have been translated into Korean, French, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic. The meticulous and engaging nature of her science writing for children has been widely recognized -- a few of her awards include:

• Raindrops Roll, 2016
  • ALA Notable Children's Books
  • ILA Teachers' Choices
  • NCTE Orbis Pictus Book Award Shortlist
  • Capital Choices Noteworthy Books for Children's and Teens (DC)
  • Green Earth Book Award Shortlist
    
• Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust, 2006
  • AAAS/Subarau SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books
  • ALA Notable Children's Book
• Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls & Songs of Whales, Elephants, and Birds, 2003
  • ALA Editor's Choice Award
  • Booklist Top 10 Sci-Tech Books for Youth

Sayre speaks to over 15,000 students each year "introducing them to the writing process, the joy of words, the diversity of rain forests, and wacky things scientists do to find, follow, and study animals." #19: Women Artists: April Pulley Sayre

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World Context/Relevance

Six of the eight bear species are designated as either endangered or vulnerable to extinction; only the American black bear and the brown bear species are not on these lists. The Giant Panda lives the longest of the bear species - 20 years - but the last count in 2014 identified fewer than 1,900 Pandas in the world and it is considered the most endangered bear species.

The primary reasons the sun bear, polar bear, sloth bear, Asiatic black bear, and spectacled bear species are vulnerable is the loss of habitat, climate change and poaching.

Habitat:

• All eight bear species face the loss of habitat due to the increased agricultural use of land, logging, road building, mining, human-caused fires, and tree plantations.

Climate Change:

• Global warming threatens all of the bear species because it impacts access to food, as well as their denning. In less than 100 years, it is predicted there will be no summer Arctic ice which is necessary for the Polar bears' hunting. Grizzley bears, a brown bear sub-species, are denning later in the autumn which is already reducing their birth rates.

Poaching:

• There is a large international trade in bear parts used in traditional medicines, some of which is illegal. Bears are also hunted for food, fur and skin.

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Can you bathe like a bear?
Ospreys and eagles
fight mid-air.
A cold stream awaits.
Wade in. Wade down.
Paw and claw and spash!
Find ...

...a fish.
It thrashes. It bashes.
Swallow firm, fresh trout.

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Steve Jenkins

Jenkins is the author/illustrator of over 40 books, as well as the illustrator for picture books by others including Sneed B. Collard III, Mem Fox, Betsy Franco, Robin Page (his spouse), Lisa Westberg Peters, Wendy Pfeffer, & Valerie Worth. His work has earned quite a bit of recognition since 1997 including

• The Animal Book, 2014
  • Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction
• Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution, 2003
  • NCTE Orbis Pistus Recommended Book
• The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest, 2000
  • School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
  • Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction,
  • ALA Notable Children's Book

As a child, Jenkins read anything he could find about animals and remembers a 1958 Life magazine cover story, The Fantastic Galapagos: Darwin's Treasure of Wildlife, as life-changing.

Jenkins' website offers a charming gallery of illustrations by children who have read his books.

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Synopsis

The poetry and art follow a brown bear's eating habits over the course of a year from early April through hibernation in November. Meet the Bears, a 2-page spread at the end of the book, provides quite a bit of  fascinating scientific detail about bears. Younger children will love the stunning art while older children will appreciate the additional information.

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Learning Connections

There are many excellent resources for learning about bears -- the live cams are mesmerizing.

Bears: Facts & Pictures, Live Science

• American Black Bear: American Black Bear/Photo Ark - Video: Watch a Hungry Bear Catch Salmon, National Geographic
  
• Asiatic Black Bear: Ramsey - Baby Bear!, Richmond Metro Zoo
• Brown Bear: Brown Bear, San Diego Zoo; Brown Bear Cam, Alaska, National Park Service, Explore.org
• Giant Panda: Giant Panda Photo Ark, National Geographic; Live Cam/Panda Bear Reserves, China, Explore.com
• Polar Bear: Polar Bear, San Diego Zoo; Polar Bears International Cam, Manitoba, Canada, Explore.org
• Sloth Bear:Sloth Bear, San Diego Zoo
• Spectacled Bear: Spectacled (Andean) Bear, San Diego Zoo
• Sun Bear: Sun Bear, San Diego Zoo

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Ages: 3 -8; Pre-school to primary grades; 32 pages. Informational picture book about bears' eating habits.

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