This book has excellent pictures, and a great story line.My children absolutely love it.We read it almost every night.

The perfect way to share your heart... The illustrations complement a touching story for all ages...with very minor religious tones. We share this book every year during the holidays with new found friends, teachers and family. Our girls, now 7 & 4, have this book tagged as a "KEEPER" in their library of places to go without leaving your room.
As long as we can find it in print...we will keep sharing it with others.

Bear's playing hide'n'seek. He hides in the closet with the Christmas presents. Should he take a little peek? Bear is wonderful. The illustrations are more than perfect. I love Bear.

It's unfortunate that this is listed as a Baby-Preschool book. I just read it to a group of first graders in our elementary school library, and they were completely engrossed in this tale.

Teddy Bear falls asleep dreaming about being a wild bear and wakes up to an ever changing adventure where he meets grizzlies, kangaroos, a koala, a sloth bear, a panda, a spectacled bear, and polar bears, before waking up on the bedroom floor at home.

Janet Slingsby effectively takes children through a rapid array of animal facts (mostly about bears, of course), while dispelling common myths about koalas and pandas being bears. She concludes this story about "running away" with the obvious, and comforting, conclusion that there's no place like home.

Tony Morris' bright water-colors support the text with a realistic, yet dreamy, quality.

I would recommend this to primary teachers when they are discussing the difference of animals, especially bears.

TEACHING KIDS ABOUT THE SEASONS WITH THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH EASIER THAN JUST TELLING THEM. WITH BEAR AND HIS FRIENDS, YOUR KIDS WILL HAVE LOADS OF FUN LEARNING ABOUT THE SEASONS. THIS IS A GREAT LEARNING TOOL FOR 1-4 YEAR OLDS. IT GIVES THEM A CHANCE TO EXPRESS WHAT THEY THINK THE COLOR THE LEAVES MAY BE OR THE COLOR OF THE SKY. HAVE FUN AND ENJOY!

This book is excelent for young children from ages 1 and up. Its easy to follow and had has very bright colors. Excelent to teach your children the different typesof animals and to find out what will you see next a purple cat or a blue horse? This book will spark the imagination of lot of children the variety of colors and animals will keep them interested to the last page i recomend five stars for this book.

This is the perfect book for helping children to remember that if THEY are pleased with something they have made for the joy of making it, then it does not matter what others think. A good book for many adults (especially hypercritical ones) to read as well...

Bear and his motley group of friends take off on a raft to enjoy a quiet picnic on the water. Charming froggies oblivious to their irritating 'rrribbitting' want to join the picnic but the little raftful of partiers gently snub them. Soon the raft gets stuck on a sandbar and froggies come to a clever rescue, resulting in unexpected new friends. A wonderful allegory to children's own friendships. Should be reprinted.

Having been involved in bears and photography for the past twenty years, I found this book to be a magnificent synopsis of these great creatures. Dan Cox's photography allows you to become so close as to be intimate with some of Mother Nature's finest work. The images are truly breathtaking and the writing unquestionably illuminates our understanding of these great creatures and how they have influenced our cultures. On a one to ten scale, we give this book a twelve!

My love for Bears developed while living in Canada, which was the first time I came across this potentially dangerous animal...that lived where I lived...chose to walk the trails that I walked...and had no respect for those in hiking boots.

On a sunny, hot summers day I met with a protective grizzly sow with two cubs. A demonstration of 'Power', 'Intimidation', and 'Motherly Instinct' took place before my eyes. With the ability to merely watch...and not much else, I felt helpless, knowing that I did not have the ability to change my very-own immediate future. The bear was very much in control...she had the ability to kill in a matter of seconds...and yet she let us go.

Was it the quick actions of my friend that saved us? Was it that I reacted slowly (in an non-threatening manner) that disabled the situation? Or, was it that the bear saw our two dogs as 'our cubs'...and after protecting hers she left us alone to protect ours?

Questions like these have plagued me most days since our meeting, and this book is one of many, which I've read in search of answers.

This book has answered many questions...short of why the grizzly I met let me go. It is full of facts and written in a style that heavily leans toward the protection of these beautiful animals. Many people 'hate' Grizzlies (all bears for that matter), yet hatred feeds on fear, and fear is born from the unknown. Get to know what you're dealing with and the fear disappears.

While I'm not a fan of reviews that talk about pictures, the author has found 'most' of the best available to publish in his book. The pictures are wonderful (which in the case of 'understanding', especially for unapproachable animals, is so important) and the fear is replaced with respect. The pictures of the bears in their natural habitat show the bear is an animal of peace-yet-power; mother-yet (possible)-murderer; parent...provider...and protector.

Not only a book of fact, it is of 'coffee-table' quality, which can be enjoyed by many. From those who want to learn, to those who just like the pictures of these 'not-so-cuddly' demons of our imagination, this book will enthral.

The 'Great Bear' has the ability to chisel it's being into the spine of those who cross it's path. It has the ability to erase landscapes, producing a tunnel-vision effect between animal and man - even of life and death. The bear reclaims its land in a second. All that one can see is the bear; standing proud, in a circle of white, empty space. The bear got me in 1998. My life took a turn because of it.

I plan on moving to Canada to live. The 'Great Bear' is a big reason why...and this book has provided some of my reasons.