Backyard Bear

Bears belong in the woods—they can find everything they need to survive there. But what happens when people start knocking down trees and building houses where the woods used to be? This young black bear is about to find out. He wakes one spring to find his territory completely changed. When the curious bear dares to come closer and closer to the houses, he discovers backyards and trashcans are an easy place to find food. But it's dangerous for people and bears to live so close together. What will happen when the bear is discovered right in someone's backyard?

Bears belong in the woods—they can find everything they need to survive there. But what happens when people start knocking down trees and building houses where the woods used to be? This young black bear is about to find out. He wakes one spring to find his territory completely changed. When the curious bear dares to come closer and closer to the houses, he discovers backyards and trashcans are an easy place to find food. But it's dangerous for people and bears to live so close together. What will happen when the bear is discovered right in someone's backyard?

Children's Literature

A baby bear is born in the winter and stays close to his hibernating mother until she wakes in the spring. That spring and summer, the mother bear teaches the cub how to find food and climb trees. But when they wake the next spring, the woods are gone and houses are being built. When the mother bear leaves, the cub doesn't know what to do, but the houses offer easy-to-find food and the bear happily scavenges through garbage cans and beneath picnic tables until two game wardens come to take him to a new wood where he can live in the wild again. This simple story shows how quickly wild habitats can change and how dangerous it can be for humans and animals when wild animals' homes are encroached upon by new development. It is important to understand that the animals are simply reacting to new situations the only way they know how. While it is not healthy or safe for the cub to eat from the garbage, when their source of food is gone, they will persist in finding food any way they can. The author's note at the end of the text explains how dangerous wild bears can be and how important it is to take proper precautions when faced with a wild bear. The author also provides tips on how to prevent bears from finding food left out for pets or tossed out in garbage cans.

Anne Rockwell has been aware of the conflict between human and wildlife habitat since a family of whitetail deer settled right outside her studio window. Flying squirrels have also found their way inside, and an inquisitive woodchuck sometimes peers into Anne's windows to see what she's up to. So far there are no bears, but who knows? And she doesn't even live in a forest, but in suburban Greenwich, Connecticut. Anne is the beloved author of countless books for young readers. Visit her Web site at www.annerockwell.com.

Megan Halsey has been illustrating children's books for more than seventeen years.

Backyard Bear is her fortieth book and her eighth collaboration with Anne Rockwell. She is also an editorial illustrator, creating art for ad agencies, magazines, and book jackets. Megan teaches children's book design and illustration in Marywood University's graduate degree program. She lives in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Marty. Visit her Web site at www.meganhalseyart.com.