It was so refreshing to read a "different" kind of bear book. I loved the essence the author deplicted between teddy bears and their keepers!! The stories within this book were so heartwarming that I found myself reading them again and that is something I rarely do with a book. I loved the fact that these were true stories and I thought the author's way of telling a story was like sitting on the front porch and listening to my grandparents tales. The pictures were outstanding and the vintage photos took me back to a time I never lived. I think this book is for everyone, not just a teddy bear lover. When a book can put a tear in your eye and also make u chuckle out loud, I feel it has accomplished the ultimate. A MUST read for the year and I think it will make a grrreat gift for all of my friends. I hope there will be a sequel!!!!

Do you just need to feel good? Want to believe that the world can be a better place? Then I highly recommend In Search of Teddy. It is beautifully written with some of the most heartfelt stories that I have ever read. Don't let the teddy bear cover fool you. This book is about the human condition and the beauty of living life and simple things. I am reading it a second time -- something that I rarely ever do. I have, also, purchased several copies for friends. I am a avid reader and this is my favorite book this year. You don't have to be a teddy bear collector to love this book, you just have to be human. This author has trulycaptured the human spirit. If there was ever a time for a feel good book, now is the time, and In Search of Teddy is the book.I LOVE THIS BOOK.

I have seen hundreds of BEAR BOOKS and seem to read the same things over and over again..until picking this heartwarming tribute! There could never be a more fitting tribute to the annniversary of the Teddy Bear than these TRUE stories and Tales FROM THE HEART of a woman who obviously knows how to bring a smile to our faces and a tear to our eye! I am not one to sit with a book but have found myself unable to put it down reading it from cover to cover over and over and finding more in each story than before! Each of the many photographs in the book is a masterpiece in itself and I am looking forward to the day when we can purchase the prints and maybe even greeting cards with the pictures shown! I applaud and admire the writers kind and gentle soul and thank her for bringing peace and love back into our lives at a time when its needed most! A great gift for those you love. A must for your coffee table collection or bedside foe a rainy night... even if you arent a Bear collector!

If you have a Vermont Teddy Bear, this book is a *must* for you, since the hero of this book *is* a Vermont Teddy Bear. My bear, Christopher, and I read this together; and it got him all fired up to write "back home" to the factory, just like Teddy in the book is doing. :-) Beautiful graphics; very cute story of a bear's adventures once he leaves the factory; you just can't miss!

As a second grade student teacher, I used this book within a unit on teddy bears and friendship. The children loved it. It was funny, engaging, and a great introduction to adventure.

The story is wonderfully original, but it's the beautiful illustrations that strike me most in this book. This is a cute tale of a teddy bear's adventures with the children who adopt him and makes a perfect companion to someone's very first teddy bear. I received this book for Christmas at age 16 and loved it.

I bought this book, because I desire a through knowledge of bears, their life, their existance. Reading this book has opened my my eyes to more than I ever thought there was to learn. I even bought a map so that I could see the areas he describes. If all books about grizzles and bears are this enjoyable, I have alot of reading to do. I now have a new found respect and admiration for the grizzly.

"Learning to Talk Bear", by Roland Cheek is a must read for anyone interested in the current state of affair of the American Grizzly. Cheek combines his vast outdoor experience as an outfitter in Montana with solid research to provide a thorougly readable and enjoyable book. His main focus in the book is for the reader to walk away with a thorough understanding of grizzly behavior and the complex issues that threaten their existence This is not a book about grizzly attacks, although Cheek does examine several in attempts to understand possible causes of those incidents. It is an exciting book that combines research, suspense and good story-telling to help the reader understand Grizzly behavior. It reminded me of two other books, John McPhee's "Coming into the Country" about Alaska, and Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm." I read "Learning to Talk Bear" while vacationing in Yellowstone and felt much more in tune while in the backyard of "Ursus arctos horribilis"!

Bear fear is a given with most people . . so they do what they can to avoid bears and thereby cheat themselves out of wilderness experiences of the kind that may not be able to be had in the next century. Roland Cheek's book goes a long way in the explanation of the necessary dance people will have to learn to do with animals in order for the animals to survive. His book is entertaining, wise and up to date. It is a book that any person who is going to venture into bear country would be wise to digest. There are good stories and illustrations of bear encounters that turned out fine . . . after all the author is still here.

These stories about Little Bear and his friend Emily are a charming introduction to the world of reading for beginners. Little Bear is a sweet child to his mother and father and a good friend to Duck, Hen, Owl and Cat. Minarik's simple narrative will be easy enough for early readers, and Sendak's illustrations will hold their attention. The four stories are: Little Bear and Emily, about the friends' meeting; Duck, Baby Sitter; The Party at Owl's House, in which Lucy falls from a tree; and "Your Friend, Little Bear", about Little Bear's coping when Emily goes away for the school year.

I just found this book in a used book store recently and I am thrilled! I remember Little Bear so well from childhood. I bought the book and it proudly sits on my shelf waiting for the day when I have a child to share it with.

This book will give you warm fuzzys! Else has created a wonderfully warm, sweet and adorable book with cute characters.

You and your child will really enjoy it! Don't pass it up!

As a little girl in the early 1960's, Little Bear's Friend was one of my favorite books. What a joy to discover that this old friend is still available for my three year old daughter to enjoy!

My son is a "bad-dreamer". This book has become more than a book to him. The story is healing and the illustrations are gorgeous.
They are the most beautiful I have ever seen.
Buy this book even if your children sleep like logs.

As young Heather sleeps, Louie Larkey and the Bad Dream Patrol walk through her house scaring away the bad dreams. Louie Larkie is Heather's newest teddy, with lavender fur and red overalls. Her older two teddies, Nilla and Bosley, form the Bad Dream Patrol. Zsa-Zsa, the white stuffed cat, remains on the bed with Heather unless called into emergency duty. One night, however, Louie Larkey and the Bad Dream Patrol can't make it from the kitchen and up the stairs in time. Even though Zsa-Zsa springs to their aid, Louie Larkey is the third stair from the top when dawn ends nighttime magic. When Heather finds him, she knows her companion has been protecting her dreams.

Louie Larkey and his delightful companions are guaranteed to keep the bad dreams away in Linda Kay's latest creation. Kay's gentle humor combines with Nora Hilb charming illustrations to create a story perfectly balanced between the fear of bad dreams and an imaginative solution. These wonderful teddy bears, always an icon of protection and comfort, come alive with Hilb's colorful inks. Indeed, the bad dream looks a bit like a colorful bearded dragon, just whimsical and charming enough to entice young readers as they overcome nighttime fears. Destined to become young reader's favorite nighttime tale, LOUIE LARKEY AND THE BAD DREAM PATROL come very highly recommended.

Very imaginative, with lush, detailed illustrations. It's a beautiful book with a heartfelt story, guaranteed to chase away any child's bad dreams. The book follows the adventures of three teddy bears who keep Heather's sleep safe from Bad Dreams. My daughter and I loved it.

The beautiful writing in "Love of the Hunt," does for me what the writing of my long-time favorite outdoor author, Sigurd Olson does. Olson wrote extensively of his times in "The Boundary Waters" of Minnesota and Canada and pulled me North with him on many a cold winter night of reading. John Winsor does that. He takes me on his "magic carpet" to feel with him in his adventures in the West and Artic, his unique sense of nature as a spiritual quest. The chapter, "Eulogy for a Bear" captures all the book. If you can read this chapter without tears, you're a better man than I am. Buy and read this one...and give it as a gift to your special friends.

The author has written a series of short stories that use the hunt as a metaphor for looking for meaning in life. He succeeded in making me laugh out loud, shed some tears, and think about the meaning of my own life. What more can one ask from a book or a storyteller? Along the way he upsets some prejudicial and stereotypical views of hunting and hunters--reinforces a few as well. Altogether a good read.

This book is for all people who love the wilderness. I laughed and I cried. I found this book to be extremely insightful about one mans draw to the wilderness and the animals that reside in it. Not being a hunter myself I learned the authors profound respect for the creatures that he hunted and gave my new insight on hunting. I highly recommend this book for all lovers of the out doors.

This is a beautiful book with pages of photographs of teddy bears in wonderfully posed scenes. It is also very informative with lots of tips and tricks for making and displaying your bears. Plus, there are lots of full size patterns inside, to make a variety of heartwarming bears. It's just a wonderful book.

This book is well written. Instructions are very clear and easy to understand. The pictures are beautiful. Patterns are extremely well done. The bears I have created from this book were fantastic and truly adorable!

This isn't just a book about making bears. Of course, it IS a book about making bears, with wonderful illustrations, full-size patterns and easy-to-understand directions, but it is also so much more. Each "antique" bear (and rabbit) has his or her own charming character, complete with hobbies and favorite attire. Along with the descriptions of each bear are beautiful photographs of the bears in their "natural" settings and at their favorite pasttimes. I think I like Webster the best, with his high-top boots and his "just in case" skeleton key hanging about his neck. Even if you never make a bear, you still need this book for its quaint English garden and old-fashioned cottage style photographs.

An outstanding and well written book. This book is an absolute must for those who love the great bear. Even though it relates to hunting of the grizzly, it offers terrific insight into the personality and intelligence of this great animal that once roamed so much of the American west.

Meet Mr. Grizzly is a great classic of Western Americana. It is also the best book on training dogs and horses that I have ever read. Montague Stevens was an Englishman who took up ranching in New Mexico in the late 1800's. Among the problems he faced in learning the business of cattle and sheep ranching were Apaches, rustlers, and stock-killing grizzlies. While this book provides a colorful and highly literate description of ranch life on the western frontier, it focuses primarily on the methods he developed for hunting marauding bears. These, in turn, depended largely on his genius in training dogs and horses. For me, the most fascinating aspect of this book is the gentle creativity and the shrewd experimental approach he applied in working with his animals. His experiences are described with clarity, modesty, and humor.

Montague Stevens (the author) lightly mentions losing an arm in an accident and then never returns to the subject or the difficulties it must have caused as he chronicles his joyous escapades of hunting Grizzly bears near his ranch in New Mexico. This combined with his quote "Any good horse would be insulted by spurs" typifies his iconoclastic personality.

This book (non fiction) is about a man (Stevens) who lived in the late 1800's and early 1900's on a ranch in New Mexico near the Arizona border. The author spent a good portion of his life hunting Grizzly's by what he terms the "hit and miss method" before learning to catch grizzly's with "reasonable certainty". Written with the feel of a "fireside chat", "Meet Mr. Grizzly" discusses Stevens' many adventures of hunting bears, training hounds, ranch life and interesting people he met along the way. His opportunities to hunt with Teddy Roosevelt and several prominent Military men of his day are intriguing.

Stevens' unorthodox methods of training hounds to trail bears is both thought provoking and entertaining. Stevens understood dogs better than most dog trainers. He was able to train "liason dogs" to trail the hunting pack once the hunting pack were out of hearing. Stevens was an animal lover with a personality and demeanor similar to James Herriot. His analytical approach to problem solving allowed him to kindly train and own what was probably the worlds most successful pack of hunting dogs. His simple explanations of training methods make the reader feel as though anyone can expertly train dogs to do anything desired.

This book is of wonderful value even if only for its historical content regarding a species (Ursus Horribilis - Grizzly Bear)that is now extirpated both in New Mexico and Arizona. An absolutely wonderful read for any hunter, biologist, historian or nature enthusiast.

"Hello, little Mouse. I see you're ready for Christmas..." And so he is in his warm and cozy home surrounded by colorful garlands, brightly wrapped presents, and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. The unseen narrator continues his patter: "But, little Mouse, what about the big, hungry Bear in the cold, dark cave at the top of the hill? Ohhh, how that Bear loves Christmas presents!" Now little Mouse is worried. He knows that big, hungry Bear never gets any gifts, not even from Santa, and would do just about anything to get Christmas presents. So he goes to work barricading and booby-trapping his home to protect his wonderful stash. But then he thinks about that big, hungry Bear, all alone in his cold, dark cave, and he has a change of heart..... Don and Audrey Wood bring back one of their most endearing characters in this captivating holiday sequel to their classic, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, And The Big Hungry Bear. Their simple, spare text is charming and engaging, but the real story is told in the vibrant and expressive illustrations. Each two page spread is filled with dazzling color, playful humor, and vivid, eye-catching detail. Together word and art ring in the holiday season with the joy of sharing and friendship. Perfect for preschoolers, Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! is a heartwarming, fun-filled romp that shouldn't be missed.

If you are looking for a nice Christmas-y story to read to your pre-schooler, you couldn't do better than this one. The message is one of joy and sharing, even between little mouse and Big Hungry Bear.

If you are also a fan of the Woods' book, "The Little Mouse, the Big Hungry Bear, and the Red Ripe Strawberry" you will again be charmed by the Woods' animated and detailed drawings and happy-ending story in this sequel.

The little mouse lives in a mousehole furnished down to the last detail: there's a Christmas tree, loaves of bred in the kitchen, and a big stack of tacks by the door in case the Big Hungry Bear comes to steal the mouse's Christmas presents. But the mouse has a change of heart when he realizes the Big Hungry Bear never gets any presents of his own.

There's JUST the right amount of text per page to keep the story flowing, there's JUST the right blend of detail, sweetness, and humor in the drawings, there's JUST the right amount of excitement for, say, a 2 to 4 year old (it's not quite scary because the bear is never depicted, and actually proves to be a good and generous friend to the mouse).

For fans of the "Strawberry" book, note the strawberry-shaped bookends over the mouse's bed on the last page of the book. It's that kind of thoughtful touch that makes the Woods' books so great.

As a HUGE fan of "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear," I was delighted to discover the Woods have teamed up to write and illustrate "Merry Christmas, BIG HUNGRY BEAR!"

Several weeks ago I stopped at my local bookstore for one of my monthly visits, and while perusing the "New and Notable" section I recognized the illustrated mouse standing among a pile of Christmas packages. I snatched the book off the shelf faster than I could read the title, and immediately became engrossed! As in the first book, the illustrations in "Merry Christmas BIG HUNGRY BEAR!" are OUTSTANDING, in addition, the Woods have maintained the same cleaver writing style with the reader narrating the story. Children of all ages will enjoy this delightful Christmas tale about sharing and caring among unlikely friends.

The story actually begins on the title page; the beautifully illustrated two-page spread shows Little Mouse returning home with a sled full of packages. He lives in a hollow tree somewhere cold, because it has recently snowed and he's wearing a red coat with cap, and black snow boots. The narration begins on the next page, "Hello, little Mouse. I see you're ready for Christmas." The mouse, now tucked away in his cozy, little home is placing presents around a brilliantly decorated Christmas tree that's already loaded with gifts.

Turn the page, "My goodness! What a lot of presents. Are they all for you?" Now we see a proud little mouse presenting his mountain of gifts to the reader. Over the next few pages the narrator (that's you) reminds the Little Mouse about the Big, Hungry Bear who's all alone in the dark cave at the top of the hill. Little Mouse boards up his door, padlocks the gifts and places tacks all over the floor in an attempt to protect his belongings. Then, the mouse hears that the Big, Hungry Bear cries every Christmas because he never receives Christmas presents, not even from Santa Claus. Little Mouse is sad for his lonely neighbor, and decides to share Christmas with the Big, Hungry Bear. Much to Mouse's surprise the Big, Hungry Bear reciprocates the sentiment.

The very talented husband and wife team have done it again! This enchanting Christmas tale will have you immediately hooked on this adorable little mouse and his unlikely friend. The illustrations are very expressive for easy comprehension, and the melodic text captivates even the youngest listener. This hardbound book measures approximately 10" x 10" x 1½" and contains 40 beautifully rendered pages. One-year and up.

My kids love to bake the simple and tasty treats out of this book all by themselves.

I have purchased several children's cookbooks recently, but this book has by far been the one we have used the most! It is really easy to use and has some very cute recipes in it. Everything is easy for the children to make and it all has been very good to eat. The cute little Alaskan themed names are unique as well. I highly recommend this book!

I'm a media specialist and I used this book for my first grade's Alaska Day held in the media center. I used several recipes for a cooking station that the students visited. They loved making the recipes because they were fun, easy, and had Alaskan names. They especially loved the snack-- Denali Peaks. Since the snacks are named after geographic locations, it was a great way to integrate a geography lesson, too. After we made the snacks, first graders located the town or region that the snack was named on a map. Kudos to the creator of this wonderful cookbook which makes a wonderful teaching resource on Alaska!