The Moon of the Bears

The 13 Moons

by Jean Craighead George

Chronicles a year in a black bear's life, beginning with her emerging from hibernation in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains during the spring thaw in February

Genres: Science, Nature, Nonfiction, Animals

48 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1967

About the author

Jean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward.

The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."

Reviews

[Judy]

2013
p 15
Bears are not true hibernators, for they can awaken if they must and go out to forage fore food. On warm days in winter they sometimes get up and wander even if they're not hungry.

2026
When reading titles from this series to the kids, make sure they know this is not a fictional story with a plot. This is a way to learn about bears ... and by focusing on one bear, it helps engage the reader.

[Marcie]

The Moon of the Bears is the February moon in the Jean Craighead George's "The Thirteen Moons" series. It's a charming story of a mother bear and her cubs, surviving the winter in the Tennessee mountains, just in time for the return of the robins.

[Ex Libris Animus]

Another beautiful moon

[Tee Minn]

Educational, but story-like.
Nice illustrations.
Would read the others in The Moon series.