The Biggest Bear

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: I came online to purchase this book for my daughter and thought I would check out what this book meant to other people and was shocked by the sensitivity that is present in today's society. Having grown up being read this book 25 years ago I carry lessons from this book to this day. I haven't read it since then, listen to what I got from it:

Johnny brings a wild animal into the community against the better judgement of family and neighbors. The bear is lovable but a nuisance animal and Johnny is forced to take the responsibility (shoot the bear) even though it is something he really, really doesn't want to do. (At this point I would interject, I always felt Johnny was older than I as he was allowed to carry guns. My parents always taught me to respect firearms. I was not allowed to be around guns without supervision until I was 16, even then it was only with permision.) The bear being saved by the zoo taught me that he didn't really check all of his options before trying to take care of the situation. I can still hear my mom telling me to "make sure and look into things, maybe you can figure out something better."

In a nutshell, I got responsibility for my actions, do all my research to resolve problems, and wild animals are wild animals.

To stick with me as long as it has, it must be entertaining and well written. I can't wait to pass it on to my little girl.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: I purchased this book on the recommendation given by Jim Trelease in "The Read Aloud Handbook." This book was given as an example of a book he would read when trying to develop longer attention spans than those required by the average picture book. What Mr. Trelease failed to mention was the disturbing imagery of children carrying guns and dead animals slung over hunters' shoulders. I don't allow my son to have toy guns and I desperately try to filter the steady diet of violence our society thoughtlessly feeds to our children. If I had seen this book before I purchased it, I can assure you, I would not have bought it. I realize this book was created in a world that no longer exists; with the abundance of wonderful children's books available, think twice before exposing your child to this relic.

Rating:
Summary: Oh sure it LOOKS cute and cuddly...
Review: In the November/December 2004 issue of Horn Book Magazine (a title that discusses children's literature with aplomb) there was an article in which an author sobbed at the lack of positive hunting images in picture books and children's novels. I thought through this argument, but since I don't really come from a rural hunting family myself, I guess I never considered this to be a bad thing. Thoughts of this nature surfaced yet again when I picked up Lynd Ward's 1952 Caldecott winning picture book, "The Biggest Bear". A surprisingly sly cautionary tale about the dangers that accompany removing wild animals from their habitats, the book definitely shows a hunting happy family in a positive light. Fortunately, it also considers the consequences that come when you set off to kill something for no reason.

Johnny Orchard's deeply ashamed. Take a look at any barn in the urrounding area and what do you find? A bearhide hanging on its side. Take a look at the Orchard's barn and what do you find there? Nuthin'. While Johnny listens with awe to the tales other men tell of finding and killing bears, his own grandfather ADMITS that on the one occasion he saw a bear he ran as fast as his legs could carry him away from it. Taking matters into his own hands, little Johnny picks up his gun and goes into the forest to kill the biggest bear he can find. As it turns out, the biggest bear he can find is not very big at all. Just a baby. With new eyes Johnny adopts the cuddly furball and takes it into his home. Before long, however, it becomes clear that this is not a bear that is meant to live in a home and Johnny must make the ultimate sacrifice to keep it away.

I'll give away a little of the ending here so as to put your mind at rest. No, Johnny does not pull an "Old Yeller" on his fuzzy companion. He tries to though. Fortunately he's stopped at the last minute and the bear is taken to a zoo to live. Happy ending for all, despite the fact that we're talking about 1950s type tiny-zoos. This is an excellent book for any kid that has ever wanted to have an inappropriate pet of their very own, whether it be wild baby raccoons, rabbits, bears, or foxes. The story shows how domesticated animals can be more trouble than they're worth.... especially bears.

So Ward's book has a clear cut message and a delightful narrative voice. And how're the pictures? Well, they're top notch. Drawn entirely in black and white (with undulating shades of gray around the shadows and details) the pictures in this story are too lifelike to be called cartoony and too cartoony to be called lifelike. Plus, the action sequences in this tale are realistic enough to convince you of their fast pace. Personally, I was most impressed by the facial expressions of the bear. I don't want to give you the impression that Mr. Ward has done anything but make this bear appear vividly bear-like. Still, sometimes the animal gets looks in his eyes that strike you as funny. There's a part where Johnny has attempted to free the bear, only to find it in his backyard a day or two later. In one of these instances the bear appears behind a row of pigs who're poised over a slops trough. The pigs look disgruntled and a little worried that their food is about to be taken from them. The bear, on his part, has a world-weary expression of an animal that could patiently wait for food forever. I place it amongst one of the greatest picture book illustrations in the history of the form.

Unlike other old-timey Caldecott winners like "Make Way For Ducklings" or "The Snowy Day", "The Biggest Bear" has been mostly forgotten. This is a real shame since it's a truly interesting story that has a lot to say to us, even today. It's not flashy and colorful and it's method of spinning a tale won't knock your socks off. It's just a really enjoyable story about a boy, his bear, and taking responsibility for your actions. A great tale to this very day.

Rating:
Summary: A story about a child who must shoot and kill his friend.
Review: Should a father allow his young son to take a bear cub in from the wild and raise it as a pet? When the animal gets too wild and too unruly for domestic life (think of the animal hijinks of Curious George or the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed) what solution should the parents propose?

If you're the father in the book "The Biggest Bear," you take your elementary-school age son aside, give him a gun and a bullet, and tell him to do what needs to be done. So the young boy reluctantly leads his beloved pet out into the woods to shoot him to death. Only the (accidental) intervention of a group of zoo trappers saves the bear from being killed by his lifelong friend.

This book was published in 1952, and won a Caldecott Award in 1953 for excellence in pictoral illustration. The black and white drawings are well done -- one well-drawn and realistic image shows a local man grinning with pride as he carries the lifeless carcass of a freshly-killed bear back to his barn to be skinned.

If you live in a frontier town bordering on a large forest, you may value this book as a cautionary tale to remind your children of the extreme foolishness of trying to feed or domesticate wild animals, and the importance of taking responsibility for your own decisions. A father with judgement this poor would never survive as a real-life hunter, trapper, or farmer. Real people who make their living in the wild have a healthy respect for nature. And a good father would never force his young son to endure the consequences of the father's bad judgement.

If you live in the city, the suburbs, or a developed rural area, you might want to think twice about a book where a young child is told that a gun and a bullet is the best solution to a problem. You also might find better ways to discuss the complex topics of friendship, consequences, killing, and betrayal with your children.

Rating:
Summary: A story about a child who must shoot and kill his friend.
Review: This book was awarded the Caldecott Medal as the best illustrated children's book of 1953. The Biggest Bear was illustrator Lynd Ward's first attempt to write and illustrate a children's book. You will fall in love with the rich detail and quality of the woodcuts of forest and farm scenes. The story itself will provide much food for thought about what growing up is all about. The book provides more of a context for hunting than is needed to tell the story, which is why I graded the book down one star.

Johnny Orchard's barn never had a bearskin drying on it. His grandfather always said, "Better a bear in the orchard than an Orchard in the bear." Johnny felt humiliated by what he thought was a cowardly view. He swore to kill the biggest bear anyone had ever seen. "If I ever see a bear, I'll shoot him so fast he won't know what hit him."

Johnny's chance to go hunting alone finally comes. He finds a bear cub. Rather than shoot the cub, he feeds the cub some maple sugar and carries the cub home.

The cub turned out to just love being with people . . . and making messes. The bear drank the milk meant for the calves, ate the mash meant for the chickens, chomped down the apples in the orchard, scarfed the pancakes on Sunday morning that the famiy wanted to eat, tore up the kitchen looking for food, wallowed around in Mr. McCarroll's cornfield, consumed the bacons and hams in the Pennell's smokehouse, and emptied the McLeans' sap buckets before drinking their maple syrup.

All the men came to talk with Johnny's father. The conclusion was that "the bear would have to go back to the woods." Johnny tried three times to lead the bear away (which by now was enormous from all the good eating), and each time the bear soon returned . . . even when stranded on an island in a lake.

Johnny was told to solve the problem permanently, and heads sadly off into the woods with his gun and the bear. While there, the bear smells syrup and runs off. Both the bear and Johnny fall into a bear trap. A zoo is looking for a bear to exhibit. They gladly take the bear, release Johnny, and let Johnny know he can visit.

Saved in the nick of time!

The story will likely require some context for your child to understand it. People probably don't carry guns around in your neighborhood, and hunting may also be an infrequent occurrence. This book depicts a rural community where guns seem to be almost as common as pitchforks. The book doesn't seem to be particularly pro or con on hunting (just indicating that almost everyone does it), so you should express your views accordingly to fill in that space in the story's background.

Notice that Johnny is actually pretty brave, independent of his reluctance to shoot. I suspect it takes more courage to carry off a bear cub than to shoot one. Who knows where the mother bear may be?

You also can use this story to discuss the pros and cons of turning wild animals into pets. Clearly, that's a bad idea with bears, and many bears are destroyed each year after becoming too fond of getting their food from campers.

I think the story has a potential asset in providing an opportunity for you and your child to discuss how else the bear problem might have been solved. You could even look up books about how bears have been successfully returned to the wild.

The book has an unusually high ratio of illustrations to words. You can take advantage of this to help your child begin to appreciate the complexities that a longer story can bring. This book, as a result, is longer than most picture books for 4-8 year olds.

As long as the hunting aspects of the story don't disturb your child, this book will be entertaining to children even younger than 4. There is a lot of humor in it about the people letting the bear run "wild" in the human-dominated part of the world. After age 6, the story will start to pale for most youngsters. They will be ready for more complicated stories.

If you have a daughter, this book may also provide the opportunity to discuss the "rites of passage" that many boys go through.

After you finish enjoying the story, I also suggest that you ask your child what people should be doing with regard to wild animals. When should they be fed, and when not? What are the pros and cons for the animals and for the people? In this way, you can help your child develop a more realistic sense of how humans interact with the natural world.

Be open to the potential joy in every moment, especially when life surprises you!

Rating:
Summary: A boy raises a bear to maturity and grows up himself.
Review: This children's book is about a boy living on a farm who finds a bear cub and raises him. But, the bear grows to a very large size and becomes somewhat of a pest to the neighbors. What is the boy to do? The book won the 1953 Caldecott Medal for best illustration in a book for children.

The 1998 reviewer from Alaska seems to have comments that are little too extreme. Hunting was a normal activity for families living on farms near woods in that time period. And, the boy does find a solution that allows his pet to survive. In the 1939 Pulitzer Prize winner "The Yearling" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, there was a much different ending for the wild pet! This is a nice book that children will enjoy despite the concerns of that reviewer. I'm not a hunter and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: "Will you read this to me?"
Review: You know you have a winner when your son (who doesn't really like books) asks that question.

The storyline is cute and the illustrations are nice. It is a perfect children's story.

Rating:
Summary: "Will you read this to me?"
Review: You know you have a winner when your son (who doesn't really like books) asks that question.

The storyline is cute and the illustrations are nice. It is a perfect children's story.