Seasons of the Bear: A Yosemite Story

by Ginger Wadsworth, Daniel San Souci (Illustrations)

This lovely picture book opens on a mother bear and her newborn cubs in their cozy den as a blanket of snow settles over Yosemite National Park. Her newborn cubs grow quickly and soon three furry, hungry black bears set out to experience their world.

Spring turns to summer, and the bears roam Tuolumne Meadows, munching tall grasses and keeping a safe distance from park visitors. But not all of the bears’ time is spent searching for food: Mama bear must remain on alert for danger and rush her cubs to safety when a forest fire rages close by or another bear threatens them. In the fall, they will fatten up on acorns before returning to their den for the winter.

Ginger Wadsworth and Daniel San Souci give readers the bear’s eye view and a tour of the seasons in Yosemite’s high country with these fascinating and mighty creatures.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2016

Reviews

[Aisha Elwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using the landscape of Yosemite, this book tells the story of a mother bear raising her cubs, the changes in the illustrations of the seasons marking the passing of time as they grow. Similar to many stories featuring animals, the book involves lots of onomatopoeia, allowing children to get a sense of how the bears sound as they communicate with one another. While the book is full of action and at times, danger, the overall tone of the book is a calming one, the bears’ dynamic sweet and playful while also giving an insight into the daily lives of bears in the wild. It also factors into account the fact that Yosemite is a famous national park with constant visitors, allowing the book to truly showcase how when humans come, they are truly visiting the animal’s home. Even while the illustrations are soft and gauzy around the edges, they do very well in depicting the environment as distinctly Yosemite. Many specific locations within Yosemite are also referred to by name, and yet the way that Yosemite is portrayed through the bears' lives makes it clear that these landscapes are supposed to be seen in terms of how they relate to the bears rather than as tourist attractions. In this way, nature in this book is truly depicted as a home than just a place to visit. Overall, the portrayal of the baby bears in this book is endearing in the way that they capture the essence of blissful innocence, which more specifically is the kind of innocence that is culturally seen as specific, and almost solely reserved for children alone, as was touched upon in Marah Gubar’s essay on innocence and how its perception has shifted and changed over time. Essentially, the baby bears exemplify notions around innocence and children that seem to have prevaded since the time of the Romantics, where in which children are encouraged to be innocent and carefree than pushed to grow up and become adults. This is clearly depicted, as only the mother bear is concerned with finding food and being vigilant of danger, whereas the baby bears are blissfully unaware, happy just to play and explore in the nature around them.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrated watercolors bring you through the seasons in a typical cub's first year of life with mama bear (in Yosemite country).

[Michele Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

great picture book for 3-4 year old, life of a bear and her cub in Yosemite.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting blend of fiction and nonfiction. I enjoyed the author's note at the end explaining how Yosemite Conservancy and the National Park have worked together to keep wild bears wild and from relying too much on humans. Too long for a preschool audience but would make a great classroom read aloud. Beautiful illustrations by Daniel San Souci.