This is always the first book my two-year-old grabs before bedtime. He'll now sit and "read" it to himself. This book includes a great collection of animals (bunnies, dogs, otters, tigers, kangaroos, bats, and my son's favorite. . . the panda)! I highly recomend this one. It not only includes the animals but also includes lots of HUGS. ENJOY!

My 17 month old boy absolutely loves this book. I usually have to read it to him two or three times in a row or he will get upset. It has been on heavy rotation at our house much longer than the average new book we get for him. Michael Rex is one of the best kids book illustrators out there as far as I'm concerned. If you like this do a search on his name. All of his books are awesome--especially the Painting Gorilla.

This gentle book begins, "You hug your mama, and your mama hugs you." From there, the text asks how each of several animals hugs - from a bunny to a gorilla and even a bat. The question is answered for a different animal on each double-page spread using words and pictures. Both the text and the illustrations evoke a variety of senses and encourage the parent and child to hug along. A cozy book to share with a child.

This is a fascinating story of rare and beautiful animals and the crew of research photographers who became intimately associated with them. It offers some startling revelations into the life and behavior of bears. The Spirit Bear, or Kermode Bear, is a white genetic variety of black bear, found only on Princess Royal Island off British Columbia. The region is also home to black bears and grizzly bears which are included in the book as well. What is most remarkable here is how the bears on the island, which had very little prior human contact, accepted the crew with an open gentleness allowing many close encounters to be documented. The book is written in an engaging first person style and beautifully photographed with close ups of bears in various activities. It will surely be a favorite addition to the library of any nature lover.

Spirit Bear is the best combination of a well-conceived book design, telling photography, and an exceptional storyline. The author's credibility is supported by a three-generation family history in grizzly bear country. His true experience, though, is reflected in his down-to-earth sincerity and simplicity of reporting. Reverence, balanced with pragmatic humor, sets a very ageeable tone for this fascinating book. With only one very moderately bloody-nosed bear photo, you could quite readily share this book with children. I grew up in bear country and now live in the heart of tree-hugging country and I found this book to be true to the core of both. And a darn fine read.

This book will give you the chills! A mystical yet true story on the nature of "wild animals" and the mystical and spiritual link between "us" and "them".Gorgeous full color photography. The book ends with the impending destruction of the Spirit Bears habitat by logging and a plea to save this unique island ecosystem.

With strength, honesty and her own brand of rough beauty, Judith Minty pours an intimate understanding of the earth, as well of what lies above and beneath it, into this artfully assembled volume linked with images of "the bear," both visual and linguistic.The poet confirms her role as a unique voice of the Midwest, speaking powerfully for all regions to hear.

In this collection, Minty adds 20 new poems to selections from three previous collections--Lake Songs and Other Fears, In the Presence of Mothers and Dancing the Fault--and from three chapbooks--12 Letters to My Daughters, Yellow Dog Journal and Counting the Lossses. The new and selected collection that emerges is a book to treasure, to read and re-read.

Minty is no mere "nature poet," nor is she a regionalist, although the lake country of Michigan inhabits, or haunts, many of the poems. She also writes of California with its mysterious gray whales, earthquakes, rainstorms and giant trees. No matter where she is, Minty is a poet of the ancient elements of earth, fire, water and air. As skillfully as she describes the attraction-replusion of nature, she also reveals the magnetism between mothers and daughters, friends and lovers, tugging the reader's own buried memories and bringing them to the surface.

Minty deserves the many awards she has won, and now she merits even more attention beyond the midwest from coast to coast.

Walking with the Bear is an extraordinary collection. I was especially drawn to the new poems which seem to lift Judith into the very front rank of American Poetry. Jim Harrison author of The Shape of the Journey and Legends of the Fall

I've known and believed in Judith Minty's poetry for almost thirty years now, and have taken her books to heart, one by one. Walking with the Bear includes a bountiful selection of her best past work, and extends the range of her storytelling power with new poems so effortlessly and succinctly written that I find myself inside their experiences as I read them, as I hear them. Walking with the Bear confirms Minty as one of the most important poets of her generation. William Heyen author of Diana, Charles and the Queen and Pterodactyl Rose Poems of Ecology

Judith Minty is a shaman in her work. She has a unique and quirky sensibility to which I find myself drawn again and again when I need to be reminded of the truths of my own strange kind, and reaffirmed in the veracity of the natural world. Whether in the dark woods, pursuing her bear, or in the less forboding and often tender labyrinth of the family, Minty's vision and language are precise and incisive. Her poems require us to abandon the world of our cherished comforts and opinions. They make our experience new again, the way we might rediscover the feel of our favorite touchstone when we remember to take off our gloves. Dan Gerber author of Trying to Catch the Horses and A Last Bridge Home

Judith Minty is a poet who sees. The passionate and precise regard everywhere manifest in this book casts a quiet radiance that in no way disguises the rock-hard wisdom beneath. Minty's poems-capacious, wide-ranging, truth-telling-are works of consummate balance, with one foot in the world of creatures and weathers, the other in the realm of the human heart. As this collection amply demonstrates, she does poetry's work. Jane Hirshfield author of Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry and The Lives of the Heart

One of my mentors, teachers, shamans is Judith Minty, who finds her sanity stalking wild bears along the Yellow Dog River in Hemingway country in Northern Michigan has released a compilation of strongest works from her major books titled Walking With the Bear. What a fine poet she is and what an important work this is--every library should have it, every feminist should read it, every man should devour it if he would be audacious enough to think he could understand women. This is a major work, folks, in the tradition of Harrison's Shape of the Journey. It's for late-night reading with Grand Marnier or slowly brewing loose jasmine tea. Minty's the real thing--a boss poet. Walking with the Bear is a fine mid-career retrospective that should be on the shelf of any aspiring poet, teacher, or serious reader.

What a delight this book is! As a musician, and as a children's music teacher, I fell in love with the lovely, rhythmic feel! Children will find the illustrations captivating, and the simple musical references in the book are a great teaching tool for young children's music class.

A beauftiful, lyrical book for 2-10 year olds-lovely illustrations and lyrical narrative. creative and captivating. My all time favorite kids book-my three year old boy loves it too!

I read this book to a first grade class. They enjoyed the bright colored pictures and story line. I highly recommend this book for K-3.

When Will It Be Spring? was first published in 1997 as a standard picture book before being released as a board book. This may explain why the story and art seem especially well done. Mother Bear and little Alfie need to sleep through the winter, but Alfie keeps misjudging clues and time and again wakes his mother long before spring has arrived. This theme will work well, I'd think, with toddlers because bedtime and restlessness are important themes to them. Alfie's eagerness and his mother's patience are shown in the beautiful illustrations as well as the text, and will make young children feel good about, not just sleeping and waking, but also about the unconditional support of their parents.

This is a well written story that doesn't even need the writing -- the illustrations themselves suffice to transport a child and its parent to a beautiful world of misty mountains and autumn leaves, winter's first snow in a peaceful pine forrest, spring flowers along the shores of a glassy alpine lake. And the bears are cute too. My daughter is only 19 months old, but the pictures are enough to captivate her almost as much as they captivate me. If you want to show your child the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone without actually taking the long drive to Wyoming, this is one way to do so.

One of our favorite kids' books yet. Story is charming, but not "cutesie"; reflects some real knowledge of natural history on the part of the author, and the illustrations are exquisite - make me want to crawl right into the book - especially the final one of Alfie asleep in a sea of spring flowers surrounded by mountain peaks. This is one of a handful of children's book illustrators whose work I would like to have framed on my walls.

This book is wonderful and very inspirational. The stories make you feel warm and definitely make you think about the world. The stories are very uplifting and a big joy to read.

This is the third book of Ms. Anderson's that I have read and am once again amazed and inspired. Her stories are stories of beauty, faith and love and each and every one cannot help but fill one with faith and hope.

"For nothing is impossible with God." We are reminded once again, the love that God has for us and we need only ask and we shall receive.

My favorite story was Triumph In The Sky, the story of a baby's journey to receive a liver transplant and the pilot who aided him on his journey.

Miracles do happen. As Joan says, "His light is eternal. His love prevails."

All the stories are beautiful and I recommend this book highly. You will be changed - you will be left thinking and you will be crying and smiling and at peace.

If you ever questioned your faith, this is the book for you! Being able to read these incredibe uplifting stories,it will encourage your heart and enlighten your faith.Joan Anderson has been blessed with a wonderful gift. As long as she is writing, I shall read.

I had to buy my child this book after I picked him up from daycare and he wouldn't put it down...even to put on his coat. He enjoys the acting along that the book allows him to do. His favorite part is telling the story himself with his hand in the puppet. I think the story is enjoyable also. The kids get cold (brrr) with Honey Bear, count, sniff, growl, and yawn. It occupies my son for hours.

My son, who is 21 months old, has never cared for books. When I saw this book, I was hoping that the addition of a puppet would help him pay attention. He LOVES the book. Giggles and gets so excited when I pull it out! A very cool idea! Thank you Tim Weare!!

We have just purchased this book for our daughter after arriving to pick her up from day-care one afternoon to find her and her 15 classmates sitting perfectly still (a miracle for 2-5 year olds) having 'Sweet Dreams, Honey Bear' read to them by one of the carers. We were so enchanted by seeing all 16 of the kids snuffling flowers, growling, counting fish and yawning, that we decided to get both this book and the equally entertaining 'Hide and Seek with Leo', in the hope that they might work their magic with our little one at home as well. And they certainly do!! The story is a bit short for our daughter's liking ('read it again, read it again!' etc. - once is never enough!) but the puppet really brings it all to life. It's the only kid's book we've found so far that is read every day several times, with no sign of boredom yet! We hope the Weares bring out some more titles in the series, as I'm sure they'll be a hit!

this is a great book: well written; comprehensive but not encylopedic; engaging and entertaining. it was intended for junior or senior high school students and some of it's suggetions and examples reflect that BUT please don't let that stop you from buying it. it is simultaneously a good introduction to poetic forms (and poetry in general), a quick reference for the more advanced student, and a source of inspiration for practicing poets.

I use this book all the time! I've had it for over 10 years and find myself continually going back to it. Recently I began writing a poem every morning before getting out of bed, and this book is invaluable for helping wake up my brain and start the creative juices flowing. The forms are clearly defined with good examples given, and the sheer number of forms included is inspiring! If one isn't working for me that morning, I simply flip to another. I've used this book with teenagers and with adults in poetry-writing exercises--it works well with all ages.

This book is my favorite poetry handbook--and I have several--because it covers so many forms in such an clear, undry (i.e. entertaining) way. It's fun to read. I've taught poetry writing at about 40 elementary schools through the Writers in the Schools programs and children's literature at the University of Iowa. The Handbook gives a passel of forms that can be used with kids of all ages. In the children's lit class, the book was a means of showing the wide variety of forms. The undergrad students in that class, most of whom weren't that familiar with poetry, were dazzled by all the possibilities that the book opened up. As a writer, I enjoy reading about the different forms and examples. You can try writing in one of the forms, or try making up a new form based on forms in the book. Either way, you learn, you enjoy, you think, and you write, thanks to the Handbook.

George Stable has a problem. George is twelve and still needs his teddy bear to make him not nervous when he sings. George wants to become a rock starbut on his journey he discovers a problem. There's a case of stolen jewels. I really liked this book because it was like a roller coaster. There were some really good parts and some really bad parts. You can't tell what happens around the corner! I would recommend this book to people who like teddy bears. I can't wait to get the sequal.

This is my favorite book from childhood.
George Stable is an amazing character. He is introspective and self-depricatory, creative and extremely perceptive. Somehow Collier makes his character believable despite George's young age.
I love the humor in the book; the crazed bohemian artist of a father, the strange world inhabited by child performers and their dreadful parents, and criminals who can never seem to do anything right.
The illustrations by Lee Lorenz are wonderful. Mr. Lorenz was a cartoonist for the New Yorker AND had graduated from my high school. I decided to use an excerpt from the book as my Senior Year Book quote.

This is a great book to read. As soon as I started reading this book and could not stop. When I was reading THE TEDDY BEAR HABIT it felt like a movie and if I stopped reading, I missed the whole book. I also read the sequel called RICH AND FAMOUS and it was also good. I think that THE TEDDY BEAR HABIT is better because it has a new character and a new plot. This book is funny and sad. Once again you should definetly read this book-and it's sequel!!!!

I don't usually do reviews, but this book has survived for 3.5 yrs now which is unusual for the "lift the flap books". I have 16 mo twins and my little girl twin likes these kinds of books but finds them to be the "lift and rip and tear" books. Not so with this book - the flaps have actually survived her curiosity and destructiveness! And of course, we all love Bear, Tutter and his friends. A worthwhile purchase for your kids library.

I bought this book for my 15 month-old son, and he adores it. Of his many children's books this book is one of his favorites by far. The pages are easy for little hands to turn, it is a steardy board book, and the flaps are easy to lift and fun for small children. The illustrations are bright and colorful, so it keeps the attention span of little ones. He especailly loves to open the big flap at the end of the book that reveals Luna, the moon. If your child likes Bear in the Big Blue House and Lift- the-Flaps books, they will love this book.

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If your pre-schoolers love " Bear in the Big Blue House" on TV, they will adore this book.

Jim Henson has over the years created some very lovable characters. The Bear has to be one of the best so far.

In this "Lift the Flap" book we get to meet all Bear's friends. We have Pip and Pop covered in suds in the bath. And then there's Treelo under the bed covers and Ojo under the sofa.

Open the shutters and look out the attic window. Who do we see? It's our special friend Luna.

A perfect bed time book for the young ones.

"Good night, my friend" says Bear.

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