Search for the Golden Moon Bear

Rating:
Summary: Well done
Review: This is the children's version of naturalist writer Sy Montgomery's longer volume of the same name, and it is just as enjoyable. Filled with colorful photographs, it describes the author's search for what may be a previously unknown species of bear in the tropics of southeast Asia, and the subsequent DNA tests that shed further light on this mystery. Montgomery weaves travelogue, science, and culture together wonderfully. She does not shy away from issues such as poverty, landmines, and cruel treatment of animals in southeast Asia, but her tone is one of wonder and hope. Above all this book may help inspire young readers to care about wild animals and to inquire what they themselves can do to help the environment. Appendices offer extra facts about many kinds of bears as well as organizations, books, and web sites for further investigation. A magic book about a magical, and previously obscure, creature.