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Summary: Old fashioned story, great values.
Review: An old fashioned story of a young boy and his bear cub, as they grow together, one into trouble, and one into maturity. The illustrations are priceless. The use of black and white add to the Waltonesk flavor of this story.
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Summary: One thing leads to another.
Review: Delightfully lured from page to page with graphicly illustrated adventure. An experience for the boys to fantasize about on an overnight outing with the guys.
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Summary: For girls too!! This was my daughter's favorite book.
Review: Even thought this talks about hunting, the story and the ending are truly fun. The bear is full of personality and his exploits will make you laugh. The wonderful pictures alone could tell the story, put together with the words it is a great read that your child will long remember.
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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.
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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.
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Summary: Proceed with caution...
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.
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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.
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Summary: I don't know what to say- this book is awesome!
Review: Johnny is determined to find a bear; the BIGGEST bear, and kill it. He plans to tack the skin on the barn so everyone can see it. But when he finds a baby bear, he cannot 'bear' to kill him. The bear grows and grows until he is the biggest bear ever seen on the face of earth! Too bad his size and natural instincts get him into a lot of trouble! This is a heart-warming tale about how a boy can save his beloved bear from getting killed. I think anyone who enjoys a GOOD book should read this!
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Summary: Another Alaskan Family Loves This Book
Review: Our 2 1/2 year old son had the words memorized within a week of checking this book out from the library. It's wonderful. We live in a rural community where the black bear is a respected, everyday part of our lives. Just yesterday I shooed one away from our porch; problems are not common. Yes, we do hunt and provide food for our families, just as in the story. This book is wonderful and captures in text and artwork the many aspects of living rurally. It is truly a treasured book in our home.
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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.
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