I found Tom Mangelsen's gallery in Jackson a few months ago, and while I was there, I had a chance to see many of his just downright stunning images.

As an aspiring wildlife photographer, I truly appreciate the superb work of Tom Mangelsen. Also, while in his gallery, I had the chance to talk to as well as meet Mr. Mangelsen himself.

This book is just simply stunning. I cannot think of any other description. The many different images of the polar bear in its natural environment has to be seen to be appreciated.

What I like the most about this book over so many other "nature" books is that we get to see the many facets of the polar bears life, from the tender side with a mother and her babies, to the savage nature of these beautiful animals...not just some glossy expose that says nothing.

I would encourage anyone who loves nature photography, whether you are a "couch" photographer/explorer or are planning on a career in wildlife photography.

Heartily recommended!!!!

I discovered the work of Thomas Mangelson about ten years ago in Jackson, Wyoming, when I stumbled across a gallery devoted to his work. The most famous image there, the one of two grown polar bears "dancing," is on the cover of this book.

The book encapsulates all the artistry of this outstanding photographer. As difficult as it is to capture wildlife images, it's doubly so when you are photographing white animals against snow! Mangelson spends some four months a year in the Arctic, enlarging his huge repertoire of images. I can't begin to imagine the patience and meticulous attention to detail that is required to gather these pictures, but I'm glad Mangelson can!

I love the fact that this book shows the chronological sequence in the life of a bear family, and also that it doesn't have captions on each page. That allows you to follow the sequence of images undisturbed by human intrusion - you become a part of the life cycle, so to speak. Mangelson's work enables the viewer to see the bears as a complex family unit in addition to their usual portrayal as hardy predators. It cannot fail to move the viewer; this is a book to savor again and again.

I'm a huge fan of just about every image this photographer has ever published, and this book is, to me, the culmination of his work. I recommend it to everyone, bear fan or not!

This is an essential book for polar bear and nature photography lovers alike. There are over 250 photos of polar bears, and arctic wildlife captured in the beautiful frozen world they live in.

I found the photography truly captivating. The adorable bears are shown splashing in the water, dancing, taking afternoon naps & wandering through the snow. There is even one of the mother making friends with a sled dog.

I was deeply touched by the many images of the cubs snuggling close to their mother. I found the other wildlife photos featuring many foxes and birds equally impressive. The captions for all the images are in the back of the book.

Along with the pictures, there is a wonderful story of a year in the life of a mother polar bear & her 2 cubs. The author switches pleasingly between factual accounts of the arctic world, folklore, & the personal story of the bear family.

This book is simply a treasure. The story is about a boy and his bear and their blankie, who have an adventure on a dark, stormy night when they help their forest friends build a storm shelter. The rhyming text is very smooth and soothing...it actually slows down my 16-month old and 4 year old! And the illustrations are without a doubt BEAUTIFUL!! This book is requested every night and I'm more than glad to narrate!

The illustrations and storyline are captivating. My children ages 2 & 3 can't get enough of this one. I don't even mind reading this over and over again! We own a large childrens library and this is at the top of our "favorites list".

When I was a little boy, my big sister gave me an exquisitely illustrated book about a mother bunny who was called upon to deliver a special Easter gift to a dying child living in a remote mountain cabin.

I received the book about 50 years ago, and to this day I vividly recall the highly detailed illustrations and, because of them, I recall the gist of the book as well. I loved that book. And I found myself reading it once in a while until I was nearing my teens. It was just a beautiful book with a beautiful message about courage, altruism, and the responsibility we humans need to have for one another.

I kept the book, and passed it on to my little daughter. She, in turn, has read it repeatedly to my grandchildren.

Barbara Upton has the artistic genius needed to make a book into an heirloom. I don't know that Klickitat will rise to that level, but it might, because the book is very attractive and highly readable. If it fails to become a family treasure, it would be only because the language in the poem would not appeal to children beyond maybe 7 or so (my youngest grandchildren are 8, and they object to the word "blankie" in the poem, for example.) I think a book earns a special place in a person's heart when the book's message says something to "kids" of all ages, in language that does not turn off older children.

I hope a quality book publisher hires Upton to illustrate a real book, with a story line that will appeal both to tykes who can't yet read, and to kids who learned to read years ago, yet pick up the book from time to time simply because its message is still relevant, the language is not obviously geared to toddlers, and the illustrations are appealing unto themselves. All these elements make a mere book into a family treasure.

As I said, Upton has the gift to produce works of art that children will want to carry into their adult lives. I think Klickitat will pass down for a few generations. And I think competent book publishers will recognize Upton's genius for beautiful art, and turn her loose on a big project like my treasured Easter story. Let's hope so, anyway.

If they do, I'll be one of the first in line to buy it.

Glenn Troester, Editor & Publisher Meeker Herald & Rangely Times Meeker Colorado

This book is basically a primary source about black bears, a subject that, as the author points out, has received spotty attention. "Among the Bears" partially remedies this neglect: it is rich in anecdote, modest yet persuasive in analyses.
This book has many small, satisfying pleasures to it, not the least of which is the idea of a large, stereotypically manly guy like Kilham being a mother to these bears. And he is an amazing mother, patient, wise and tireless. He always lends his bears an ear, literally (for suckling). Another is the reader learns along with Kilham, who continues to turn over the behaviors of his bears in his head, often coming to explanations only after thinking and experimenting. Finally, his physical encounters with bears are entertaining and, I think, instructive about how bears (and humans) become at ease with each other.
The book is very plain in language. As his story progressed, the content of the ideas was plenty engaging, and more than made up for any lack of style.
Telling the history of his interactions with bears, including an unusually large male interested in Squirty, one of the female bears he has raised, Killham ventures prescriptive advice about how to handle a bear encounter only at the end of the book. "Hold your ground, stay calm, maintain eye contact, and let the situation resolve itself. It will." (245)
Throughout the book, Kilham has relevant and undogmatic insights about hunting and hunters.
A small complaint: A bibliography, or more simply--in the character of this straightforward, unpretentious book--a short list of suggested readings would have been welcome. However, the basic but thorough index is excellent.

This is a wonderful book! Kilham does for bears what Jane
Goodhall did for primates. He lives among them and and in
so doing gains valuable insights into their abilities and
behaviors. He discovers bears to be highly intelligent
individuals, but with strong social connections, communicating
over distance and time by scent, sound, body language, and
deliberate trail signs. If you have any interest at all in
bears or in social lives of animals, buy this book!

If you love animals, if you are interested in their behavior, or if you just enjoy a great read.......BUY THIS BOOK! Ben Kilham raised orphaned black bear cubs as a momma bear would. He successfully returned them to the wild and maintained a relationship with them, even after one had cubs of her own! This is no pet bear story, but a look at how one man changed the way we look at a species, while retaining a respect for their wild stature. Black bears are sensitive, intelligent and often altruistic, as Ben Kilham shows. He makes us realize that there are things to be learned about animals, especially black bears and their behavior, that cannot be taken lightly. We humans are not the only intelligent and emotional beings on this planet!

This is an amazing book that will teach your children to have confidence in themselves... and make them laugh at the same time. It also has an underlying message stressing the importance of our environment. I truly believe that every child should have this book.

This book has been a personal favorite ever since I can remember. I make sure to read it to any child that visits my house. My affinity to the material and the subtile presentation of the importance of being an individual was a clear indication of my political orientation from a very early age. I'm so glad that I can now get copies for the next generation to take home and cherish.

I have seen the cartoon,but I haven't seen the book yet

This book I really enjoyed, it really sparked my interest. I hope that many people read this book and enjoy it, like I did.

I read to children weekly at Border's Bookstore and they love this book! It is so much fun to read and the children really get involved in the dilemma the boy has: trying to repair the bear's toothache. The portrayal of Dad is hilarious and all too familiar to parents. It is a delightful book your child will not soon forget!

We accompanied Juancho, our two and a half year old kid, to his dentist last week and we chanced upon this great children's book by David M. McPhail aptly titled, "The Bear's Toothache" on the dentist's book shelf.

The book, richly illustrated by the author, is about a boy who cannot not go to sleep. He finds a bear with a toothache outside his window and lets him in. What follows is a hilarious sequence as the boy proceeds to help the bear remove the aching tooth. They raid the refrigerator and knock over a lamp that sends the father to the room to investigate. Still sleepy, Dad doesn't see the bear hiding under the bed. Finally, the bear jumps off the window ledge with a rope tied around the tooth. The scheme is a success and the bear leaves the tooth to the boy for him to keep under his pillow. What a riot.

After reading the book, we laughed aloud with Juancho who by that time was all set for his own adventure with the dentist.

Anthony Burgess' "Honey for the Bears," is a fast paced farcical satire set in Cold War period Soviet Russia. Following an antiques dealer and his wife as the two attempt to sell cheep dresses on the black market as a favor to a friend.

Sexual morays and British stereo type stuffiness are thrown out the window as the two find themselves trapped in the Soviet Union with the police on Paul Hussey's trail. On the boat ride over his American wife, Belinda, becomes sick and finds herself hospitalized for a terrible rash.

"Honey for the Bears" satirizes the secret capitalist desires of the Soviet people with a schizophrenic jump between their urges for Western pleasures and at the same time a contempt for the capitalist pigs that cannot even take care of their own people.

Sharp, witty and insightful, Burgess again succeeds in bringing together a dark twisted world that strongly resembles our own. As always, Burgess' mastery of linguistics shines through as he plays games with language and dialects: thus giving his characters a sense of reality.

I didn't want to read this book. It was attached to a copy of "A Clockwork Orange" and I figured I might as well. The whole time, I felt both compelled and repelled to go on. However, I loved it more than "A clockwork Orange," and am currently trying to find out more about it. Burgess uses an interesting plot that puts full emphasis on causality and contains many twists and turns that were comical and intriguing. I found myself alternately loving and hating Paul, the main character. The thing that I love about it the most is that what appears is a simple plot is really a statement of burgess's personal resentment for the state. If you're a political kind of person, or you want to learn, this is a great, insightful book.

It is by chance that I read this book. And I don't regret it. I loved Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, and, naturally, I wanted to read more. After looking over the reviews of The Doctor is Sick ,The Complete Mr. Enderby, and The Wanting Seed, I decided I'd look for one of those. I went to the local bookstore, and sadly (or so I thought at the time) they only had one copy of Honey for the Bears, about 7 copies of A Clockwork Orange and a couple of works he did on Shakespeare. I read the summary for Honey for the Bears, and I was uninterested. However, for lack of reading material, I bought it.

It was excellent. Burgess is really talented. Unlike so many other books, this one never gets boring, not even for a second. Taking a journey of self exploration with Paul could not possibly be more entertaining, funny, exciting or meaningful than Burgess makes it. You'll enjoy this book if you like a well constructed plot and interesting story line. This was not in any way Russian babble not worth reading unless Russian yourself. (I'm not Russian, never have been to Russia, and don't know any of the Russian language. I will go even furthur to say that you most certainly don't have to have a great interest in Russia to enjoy this book!) At the risk of sounding cliche, this is just one of those books that entertains you the whole way through.

It's not complete candy though: Burgess used Russian throughout this book, making it a little diffult to understand at times. I had to reread a few parts, but it wasn't a chore at all, and surprisingly, did not bother me. Everything comes together at the end, although is not always what you expect. Delightful. I'm surprised this wasn't made into a movie.

This was my favorite childhood book. I remember learning its pages by memory and reciting them all the time. As an adult, my husbands name is Joe, ironically our nickname for each other is "Mouse" and my dog's name is Sam. I wish I could find a copy to share with my kids.

I'll never forget climbing into my dad's lap back in the early 70's and learning how to read this book. I can still quote the story from memory. What a great lesson about how different people can find common interests! After looking for it on-line for many months, I recently broke down and paid $... for a copy I hope my young son will enjoy as much as I did when I was his age. We both love ice cream, like Joe and Sam, so some things will never change!

I loved this book as a child & have my tattered copy to share with my children. I was thrilled when my daughter brought home her 1st grade reading book & found she would be reading the story in school. The illustrations are different, but it's still the same charming story & it was fun to compare the two books. This book is a definite favorite in our home!

This book is a delightful childrens book about a little polar bear who loves adventure. Lars spends the day fishing with his dad and then they go off to sleep. During their rest the ice cracks and father and son become separated. Lars drifts away, arrives in a new land and is suddenly met by a huge hippo...read on to find out what happens to Lars and if how he meets back up with his dad. Short and sweet, aand a nice book to intorduce children to polar bears and the north pole.

Little Polar Bear is a very cute story, of a young polar bear named Lars, who was out with his father learning how to hunt. But as the night went on he drifted off to sleep, and something unexpected happened. This thing that happened to Lars taught him about new surroundings, and taught him new things he didnt know. He met some new friends, that he will never forget.

Yes, I would recommend this book becuase of the amazing things Lars goes through with the help of some new friends. There are some parts in the story that will make you smile and laugh.

I love this book!! The illustrations are wonderful and they always captured my attention. The story is of a little polar bear, Lars who goes on an adventure away from his clean, white home in the North Pole. He makes a new friend, who helps him on his adventure.

I still love this book. I take it babysitting with me sometimes, and all the kids have liked it too.

in Frank Asch's _Milk and Cookies_ the author introduces the common childhood fears of monsters, and presents a story which helps children overcome that fear.

Mama, Papa, and baby bear are visiting at Grandma and Grampa's house. They spend the night. Baby bear looks through the cellar door to see Grampa feeding "a dragon" in the cellar, which is actually a wood stove. Later baby bear has a dream of a dragon coming upstairs, which eats all his milk and cookies. Crying baby bear is then taken downstairs by his father to see "the dragon." After that, baby bear is no longer scared; he and his grandparents and parents all eat milk and cookies.

My 3-year old son loves this book. He sympathizes with baby bear, and he loves the way the story is resolved, of course. I'd recommend this, as well as Frank Asch's book _Goodbye, House_ as excellent books for children aged 3.

ken32

I used to be a Teacher Aide for a daycare for kids ages 2-4. Every day before naptime the kids would beg me to read this book to them. And not just once but twice! They loved when the baby bear went down to see the dragon. And at the end of the story they would all shout the last line "milk and cookies"!! Since then I have had a baby of my own and would like to get a copy of this book that sure will be a favorite with my daughtor.

The author explores color and shape in it's simplest form to enable childres to absorb the illustration quickly and easily, thus they hear the full meaning of the words at the same time. Excellent teaching reading book for k-2

I ordered this book because the cover looked so inviting, but the rhyming text and warm, fuzzy illustrations are what endears it to me. My two year old and my five year old have it memorized, and my husband picks it to read every other night at bed time. Their favoite part are the faces made by the hare! I was so excited to see that there is a new installment for "Bear" and his friends (Bear Wants More), and I am ordering it today!

A very hungry bear awakens in spring to find roots to eat - but he wants more. Berries, clover, and fish aren't even enough, and it's up to caring friends to nourish his huge hunger in this enchanting picturebook story. The bear drawings are both whimsical and appealing.

"When springtime comes,/in his warm winter den/a bear wakes up/very hungry and thin!" He lumbers outside and begins to look for food, eating the new shoots of grass that have popped up outside his front door. But that barely begins to satisfy his hunger, and the bear wants more. Fortunately his woodland friends, Mouse, Hare, and Badger pass by, glad to see him after the long winter, and help him find food... strawberries, clover, and fish in the stream. But the bear's still hungry and wants more to eat. "Meanwhile.../back at the big bear's den/wait Gopher and Mole/with Raven and Wren.// They bake honey cakes./They decorate the lair./It's a springtime party/for their good friend Bear!" Bear smells the party foods wafting in the air and hurries home to his big surprise party. But he's eaten so much today, that he's too big to fit into his den and gets stuck in his own front door. Now with a party inside just waiting to begin, what are Bear and his friends going to do..... Author, Karma Wilson and illustrator, Jane Chapman are back with a joyous springtime sequel to last year's marvelous Bear Snores On. Ms Wilson's rhythmic, rhyming text is engaging, and little ones will revel in reading the oft-repeated refrain, "But the bear wants more!", along with you. Ms Chapman's bold, bright and expressive artwork is filled with vivid color, eye-catching detail, and endearing characters. Together word and art usher in the spring with humor and fun. Bear Wants More is a winner, and a charming, read-aloud, preschool crowd-pleaser that shouldn't be missed.