The Biggest Bear

by Lynd Ward

Biggest Bear

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Classics, Friendship, Nature

Paperback

First published June 1, 1952

About the author

LYND WARD (1905-1985) illustrated more than two hundred books for children and adults throughout his prolific career. Winner of the Caldecott Medal for his watercolors in The Biggest Bear, Mr. Ward was also famous for his wood engravings, which are featured in museum collections throughout the United States and abroad.

Married to May Yonge McNeer, several of whose works he illustrated. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up really enjoying this little book. At first, I was getting upset that the boy wanted to kill a bear and it turned out so differently. It was a good story with a good ending. The art work looked a little like pencil drawings in places blended with paint, but however it was made, it was lovely illustrations. A work of art on every page. They are black and white.

You know what they say about a boy and his bear.

The nephew enjoyed reading this book too. He had fun with it. He was a fan.

[Mischenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward is a children's picture book about a boy named Johnny Orchard. Johnny embarks on a journey to find a bearskin for the family barn and comes home with an unexpected friend.

The book is full of black and white, realistic illustrations. We loved the adventure and emotion.

Follow along in this exciting and engaging story to see what Johnny will do with his new found joy as time changes everything.

5*****

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward is the Caldecott Medal-winning story from 1952 of Johnny Orchard, a kid who wants to kill a bear so he can put up a pelt on his barn like other farmers in the area have. He goes out one day and finds a bear cub (I thought, oh oh, wears the mama bear?!) and takes him home, his family allows him to keep and raise him there. As one would inevitably expect, problems ensue, and what do farmers expect will happen with (even quite domesticated) bears? (Remember those pelts. . .). I won't say exactly what happens, but I was relieved about the resolution, let's just say.

I read this because I reread Ward's woodcut graphic novel of 1929, God's Man, and was curious to see what else he had done: well, something like 200 books, written and/or illustrated. This feels pretty old-fashioned in story style and topic and somewhat in terms of the art, but on the whole it was beautifully done, black and white washed in brown and tan.

[Anna]

The most depressing Caldecott winner I've come across so far, and an excellent illustration of how times change. Young Johnny sets out to shoot a bear, as it is embarrassing that his farm is the only one in town without a bearskin tacked up on the wall of the barn. He finds a baby bear and ends up making it a pet, but it turns out that bears don't make great pets (surprise?). He tries to turn it loose in the woods, but it keeps coming back home. So, sadly, he goes out to shoot it. But along the way it ends up getting caught in a trap, set by men who are capturing animals for a zoo in the city. So the bear goes to the zoo and lives happily ever after. The sepia-toned black and white illustrations are lovely, but I would never recommend this for a child.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sketches in this book were beautiful to look at. I think I was more excited by it than the kids. It’s an old school hand drawn book in black and white style. The story was equally beautiful.

A boy is taught to hunt and killing bears is part of the world they live in. Johnny is humiliated that his grandfather’s farm has no bear skins so he sets out with a shotgun on a mission. Instead, he ends up adopting a baby bear and taking it home. This creates trouble as the bear is growing.

Lynd Ward has created a beautiful story that engages and starts questions in curious kids. I would absolutely own this book (library book) It is that good.

[N_hannahkang · Rating 1 out of 5]

This books is a Caldecott winner from 1952 - and it shows. Johnny Orchard is embarrassed that his family does not have a "bearskin nailed up to dry" on its barn, so Johnny is determined to find a bear, kill it, and skin it. Although the book doesn't say this - it's clear that's what needs to be done. Johnny does indeed find a bear but it's just a cute, little cub and Johnny and the bear become fast friends where Johnny feeds him maple sugar and carries him back home like an infant. As with most wild animals-who-become-pets stories, the bear - who is never given a name, has to be set back to the wild. And of course, the bear can't adapt and continues to return to Johnny's home until it's determined that Johnny must shoot him. "Luckily," the bear ends up in a trap and only to wind up in another "trap" - the zoo.

This book was clearly written in another time era where men hunt and women stay in the kitchen - where men had to prove their "manliness" throug hunting. It's funny that the men in the community would nominate poor, little Johnny to kill his friend. Perhaps the reason Lynd Ward does not give the bear a name is so that he's easier to kill without one. And then he continues to go nameless when Johnny visits him at the zoo. Johnny is happy to see his friend in a cage where he can give him maple sugar through the bars of the cage. I guess given the two options though - being killed or being trapped in a cage in the zoo - the zoo is a better option.

[Robert Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

**** Caldecott Medal (1953) ****

The illustrations are quite well done indeed. However, the story itself regarding the problem with a pet bear and its' resolution left me dry. Another example of a book from another era that doesn't fit into the modern sensibility... Although it might still fly in the "Red States."

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this story, especially once the bear cub comes home and is a family pet of sorts. I was so upset by this book's ending. The bear grows large and becomes a nuisance so the only the solution is to shoot him? When shooting him is just too hard to do you trick him into a trap and send him off to the zoo? No way! Not a good story here. Illustrations are in black and white and appear in full pages that mirror text. They are fairly realistic and well done, but this story was not for me.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable story about a boy who wants to hunt a bear for its skin and comes home with a cub. Although I found the ending really sad for the bear, I enjoyed this little story and they journey the boy made. I do think it teaches some good lessons about taking in a wild animal and what could happen.

This book is in the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up challenge I am doing.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

So hard to rate. The illustrations are five stars. The story made me sad and uncomfortable. I would not read this to most children today--especially not animal-lovers or other sensitive readers.

Review below contains SPOILERS:

I'm really not sure what to make of The Biggest Bear. Like many of these early Caldecotts, it is a product of its time, and while today the idea of boys going around in the woods with guns hunting bears is probably uncomfortable, if not repugnant, to many of us I realize that for the era this was written, and the even earlier (I think) era it was depicting, there was nothing "wrong" with it.

I do appreciate the boy's compassion for the bear, and the love and care he showed it. That made his final "decision" taking the bear into the woods to kill it even more heart-wrenching and sensitive children (and some adults) may want to skip this book because of it (and the earlier scenes of bears being hunted and killed *shudder*). Also, while I'm conscious that the bear going to the zoo was a "happy ever after" for the story that we now know better and I still felt so sad to think of the bear, who could have lived free in the woods, or at least well-loved with the boy on the farm, was going to be stuck in a cage.

That said, the illustrations are marvelous and I understand why they won the Caldecott. They evoke such a wonderful sense of time and place, and are so expressive. Love, joy, sorrow, fear, all are depicted so deftly. And some of the illustrations are just so humorous, too--I almost laughed out loud at the one of the sneaky bear and the pigs!

Anyway, all in all I am glad that I encountered Ward's work but I don't think I would share it with the children I know.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward is the Caldecott Medal winning story from 1952 of Johnny Orchard, a boy living in a rural farm area who is embarrassed that his family has no bearskin tacked to their barn. He goes out to shot a bear, but instead finds a cub he brings home. The cub grows into a huge bear that is always hungry and gets into neighbors food supplies.

After trying repeatedly to leave the bear in the wild. Johnny is told by his father to take the bear out and kill it. Instead, the bear drags Johnny into a bear trap. The Biggest Bear ends up in a zoo where Johnny can visit him.

Before I summarize, I must comment on other reviewer's remarks about how ugly and brutal a book this is. This historical fiction story is nearly 60 years old. Hunting was ingrained in rural cultures and hunting animals that preyed on crops and animals was deemed necessary for families that need to strech every resource. Zoos were not as sophisticated as they are today. Judging this book totally by today's standards and mores makes as much sense as banning or changing Huck Finn today IMO. I don't hunt and wouldn't hunt for 'sport', but my father's generation did and we enjoyed game at times on our farm table. Foxes trying to get into the chicken coop didn't elict sympathy. The story also has redeeming qualities IMO.

The text is relatively simple, with usually one to three sentences on every other page. The perils of keeping and domesticating a wild animal as a pet are clearly shown.

The detailed sepia tone drawings are beautiful. The animals are all drawn realisticly. The cub is very cute, as are most young animals. The contrast between Johnny and the Biggest Bear is striking. The illustrations frequently have a dry humor to them.

This is a book that will appeal to boys, with its adventure and independence themes. Sensitive readers may not appreciate the hunting and zoo components.

For ages 4 to 6, Caldecott, historical fiction, bears, animals, pets, love, hunting, responsibility, families, farm themes, and fans of Lynd Ward.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this book from when I was a kid and found a copy that I passed on to my niece. Reading it with her was a little bit of a mind warp though. This is a perfect example of a beautiful book that has not aged well. We live in a time when very few people live on farms. The larger urban centers typically don't go for hunting...except in the locavore/Michael Pollan approach.

So, Ward gives us perfectly crafted illustrations that bring us back to a different world, but we can't wrap our brains around the idea that a little kid could and should tote around a shotgun. I'm not seeking to arm the kindergartens, simply stating that this is as foreign to us as smoking on a plane or eight-track tapes.

The book adds another strike by having the happy ending be an old-school tiny bear cage at the zoo. This book is beautiful, but it's now more disturbing than playful. But perhaps this gives us a chance to consider how much has changed and even talk about which changes have or haven't been for the better!

I do love the middle section of the book where the bear keeps returning. The picture of him standing behind the pigs is priceless.

[Peter Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't review a lot of kid's books. Perhaps I should do more. This book is an almost perfect combination of text and illustration. The pictures are delight. The story is wonderful. The little ones wanted it read several nights in a row.

[Tatiana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I suppose it would be a good story to read to children with NRA-loving parents.

[Meltha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very, very slowly I am working my way through all the Caldecott winners. Some are stunners. Some I can tell were stunners when they first appeared. And some? Some do not work well at any level anymore.

Here's the plot in a nutshell. A kid is angry because everyone else in the neighborhood has a big bear skin drying on their barn, and he thinks this makes his father look like a wimp. He goes off to shoot a bear in the woods (age of child alone in bear-infested woods while carrying a shotgun, roughly seven) and runs into a bear cub. He then apparently takes the cub from its family, thinking a bear will make a great pet suddenly, a concept his family does not choose to disabuse him of. Shockingly, the bear, as it grows and becomes huge, starts eating everything edible (and destroying most inedible things) in the house, AS IT WOULD, BEING A BEAR. Then it starts into the neighbors' fields, so the kid tries to ditch the bear three times, only for it to come back every time. So then he goes out to SHOOT HIS PET BEAR. Deus ex machina occurs in the form of a zoo catching the bear at the last moment, and the bear gets to spend the rest of its life in a tiny barred cell, which is apparently a happy ending. Nothing, and I mean nothing, goes well in this story by today's standards of basic human decency and kindness to animals. Everything is illustrated in grayish-brown ink paintings, so there aren't even pretty pictures as a distraction from the repeatedly stupid decisions everyone makes in this. Why, Caldecott, why? Was nothing else published on the planet this year?

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

5* art
3* story

Not politically correct, that's for sure. (This is a red alarm book for any parent who doesn't want their kid to play with toy guns.) A young boy goes out to shoot a bear! I wondered what Squirt would think of that, and he didn't blink an eye, nor did he ask to go out bear hunting. So I don't know. Is it a bad book? It wasn't the best written story, I can say that, and Squirt wasn't that interested. The illustrations, however - fabulous.

[Book Concierge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ward won the Caldecott for the detailed, sepia-toned, drawings that accompany this story.

Johnny Orchard lives on a farm at the far end of the valley, near a big woods. Whenever he walks down the road he notices that other barns have bear skins drying on their walls; he’s embarrassed that his family’s barn doesn’t have a bear skin. So he heads into the woods one day, with his rifle, determined to get the biggest bear.

What he finds, though is an orphaned bear cub, which he befriends with a piece of maple sugar candy. But when he brings the cub home, problems begin; and they only get worse when the bear grows B*I*G.

I think children might be intrigued by the adventure of the story, but I hope they wouldn’t feel encouraged to try to tame a wild animal. I was also somewhat dismayed by a scene where Johnny has to take his bear to the woods to kill it because it has become a nuisance. Don’t worry, he doesn’t ever actually do this, but he has every intention of doing so, and I find that disturbing in a children’s book.

The illustrations are wonderfully detailed. I kept looking at them, absorbing the farmhouse, barnyard, woods, etc. If I were rating the illustrations alone, I’d give the book 4****.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugly book.
little johnny is jealous that all the other kids daddys have killed a bear. not johnny's, he daddy is a wimp, a milktoast, not a real man. one day johnny is in the forest and finds a bear cub, feeds it and takes it home. daddy (probably a vegan and belongs to peta) lets johnny keep and raise it. the baby bear grows up, steals food, raids the other farms and is generally uncivilized. so all the other daddys get together and tell johnny he needs to take the bear into the woods and blow its head off.
johnny got his gun, happily took the bear into the forest and locks and loads... but damn, the bear runs away, fortunately it falls into a cage set up by the city zoo.
everybody lives happily ever after. the bear being gawked at and underfed, johnny grows up to become a life member of the nra and fly alaska govenors in helicopters. bang bang.
the art isn't much either

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

—-Caldecott Winner: 1953—



This year for kindergarten, I thought it would be fun to read through all of the Caldecott winner books from 1938 to the present for my youngest child. I have read hundreds of picture books in the last 10 years, but many of these Caldecott winning books I have never heard of. So this is a fun challenge.

I loved this book! Lynd Ward both wrote and illustrated this book. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. They are pencil drawings and just so authentic and timeless yet show a bygone era (check out the old fashioned telephone on page 35!!). Reading this book is like stepping back in time. This alone would be a good reason to read this book! But the story is really a story that melts your heart, makes you sad, and ultimately has a happy ending! I loved reading this to my kindergartener (who also loved it), that I read it again to my 5th grade son and my kindergartener wanted to listen in again! I could read this book over and over!

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not at comfortable with this sort of book. The only reason I read this with Julia after glancing through it myself was to point some things out and start a discussion.
I personally find this disgusting on a few levels, beginning with the first page which shows Johnny standing, hand in pocket and smiling, all of about 7-9 years old - holding a rifle. A few more pages in and we see a bunch of barns with bearskins tacked up to dry. Johnny's barn not having one is a source of humiliation for him. That a child that young should be concerned with something of this sort - in any time period - is topic for a conversation IMO.
Turn the page again and we see a handsome, strapping man. With a dead bear over his shoulder. He's waving and quite obviously proud of himself.
Another man is prided by the fact that he shot three bears in a row one night. The fear showing on the bears faces is an especially interesting observation and possibly tells me some about the author.
Johnny was also ashamed when his grandfather ran from a bear. As opposed to trying to kill the bear with his hands I assume. (This a great opportunity for talking with your kid(s) about feeling humiliated, what is "worth" feeling this way, etc.)
So, little Johnny goes off into the woods to prove his manhood. One could steer the conversation here along the path of parental supervision and the lack thereof, neglect, etc. if they so chose.
Our boy Johnny finds a bear cub and not only feeds said wild animal but takes him home. The "responsible" adults in the story allow this. Of course.
Then we get to the "cute" part. The cub getting into the milk and chicken feed, climbing trees and eating out of Johnny's hand.
Everyone gets more and more upset as the cub grows into a full grown bear and starts breaking things and messing things up. Finally, Johnny's father is told he must get rid of the bear. You know, the bear who has no earthly idea how to find food in the forest, how to protect himself, how to act properly around other animals and humans, etc. That bear.
Johnny leaves "his" bear in the woods and the bear, surprise surprise, follows him home. This happens a few times when little Johnny's oh-so-loving father decided - apparently with Johnny - to have Johnny murder the bear. While in the woods preparing to kill the bear the bear takes off after catching a scent. Johnny and the bear end up trapped - the bear smelled bait from the trap. The men were catching animals for the zoo and end up taking this bear with them. Best scenario for the bear following a story like this.
The Biggest Bear is a horrible, disgusting story that makes me shudder when I think about the ideas, quite possibly life-long ideas, that a child could get from this "story".
When I think of the small and sometimes tiny things that altered my way of thinking as a child this saddens me. It's "stories" like this that *almost* make me wish the book would be banned.
The only thing I'm happy about right now is the negative ratings and reviews. There are hundreds of worthy children's books in the world, old, new, about every subject, some that teach and some that don't, do we really want to read this to impressionable kids?

[Truman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when they got trapped in that thing, and the bear got put in the zoo, and Johnny always brought him Maple sugar. And I bet he kept growing.

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover art on this shiny new copy of an "old" Caldecott winner reminded me of Robert McCloskey's illustrations (which I love more than his stories), so I checked it out. I love the old fashioned feel, the big furry bear, the humor in the illustrations, and the ending. And I think maybe Lynd Ward and Robert McCloskey are the same person. ;)

I'm kind of amazed at the number of reviewers here who are extremely critical of the story because of the hunting and killing of animals that is integral to the story. This was written in 1952, when the world was a different place. Others reviewers have called this book "ugly" and criticized the ending, saying the bear will be "underfed" and not cared for. How ridiculous. Johnny's problem is solved in a way that, as far as we know, makes everyone happy. Let's not assume the worst here. That bear looks pretty well-fed and happy to me in the last illustration. :)

[Wilmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my honest opinion, I do not visualize this book as a children’s book. I mean, the boy first handles a shotgun alone in the woods. Then he takes a wild animal as a pet, not on the farm, but inside the house. Next he sets out to abandon his pet, and when said pet keeps finding his way home, sets out to kill it. Lastly, the animal is sent to the zoo, where animals never live as they should in their own habitats. So for me this is not really the best book to read to a child.
This book could make a good read for a child that is not impressionable or of an older age. Although maybe at that point, the child will not find it as entertaining. This book also had the great point of teaching children the problems that pets can bring to them or their neighbors. Every build wants a pet, yet they are not well acquainted with the problems that may bring to them. This book excels in showing said problems to a child.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark. And I don't mean Pokémon dark like, "You have no father, go out into the world and force animals to fight each other to settle conflicts. Don't make eye contact, or you'll get into a fight." I mean like Old Yeller dark. The friendly biggest bear is one deus ex machina away from bleeding out from a gunshot wound inflicted by his best friend in the whole wide world at one point. Damn. That's even more upsetting than the kid wandering the world by himself with a gun. Different times!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed emotions reading this - as an adult. Interested to see what the kids make of it. Do you shoot the bear? befriend the bear? capture it? put it in a small cage in the zoo? Nothing to do with what the bear wants - he just wants to be where the food is. It would certainly be edited differently now in 2010 to 1952 - but there's something about the compact language and sepia illustrations that are appealing still today.

[Donalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnny has no idea what he is getting himself into when he brings a bear cub home. The bear eats his way through the neighbors' crops and storehouses and refuses to stay in the woods when Johnny tries to set him free. Lynd Ward finds a practical solution for the bear and Johnny, but I didn't care much for the ending. Caldecott winner.

[Peter Patilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book turned into quite a thought provoking book to the children I read (work with), which I was pleased about. It kept them engaged, the illustrations are good and isn't a run-of-the-mill feel good book, where everyone skips away in the sunset happy.....

Got us all discussing what we would do differently, so for that reason it's worth a read, I feel.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon a time, some years ago, my sons taped a few pairs of their underwear to the wall. These, for the unenlightened, were bear skins. (A pun might be present.)

This family favorite was the prompt.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poor bear. What an awful ending!

Caldecott Medal Book, 1953

Favorite illustration: page 19

Favorite line: Nothing stands out

[LMS · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about kindness, compassion, and responsibility, and how the three intersect in sometimes complicated ways. This book would probably not have been written today.