Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3-5. There's a remarkable balance between the simple text and the splendid paintings in this large-format book about the autumn activities of a bear on the rugged land behind the narrator's farm. From the dramatic cover emphasizing the approaching animal's bulk to the final spread of the huge beast cradled for a long winter's nap, the artwork is entrancing. Done in luminous watercolors and colored pencils, Arnosky's radiant pictures have a dazzling sense of pattern and composition, as bands of light and shadow streak across the solid forms of trees, rocks, and animals. There's even a sense of mystery--the outline of a wooded hill suggests the bear's shape, and his rocky den resembles the rooftop of the artist's home. A beautiful, imaginative, and informative approach to natural history for the nursery set. ~--Julie Corsaro
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Decidedly less friendly-looking than the animal star of The Bear That Heard Crying (reviewed below) is the imposing beast that dominates the pages of naturalist Arnosky's latest offering. This untamed creature is a yearly visitor to the wooded hill behind the author's Vermont farm. In addition to the bear, readers meet a bobcat, a red fox, a grouse and several other woodland animals. The lean, powerful text uses an intimate, conversational tone to tell of typical bear ways: the bear drinks water from a spring, claws a tree trunk and follows forest trails ``just to see where each one leads.'' Each of the full-page watercolors is vibrant, translucent and strikingly composed. Arnosky has mastered the simple knowledge that comes from firsthand observation, and his paintings may elicit from readers the desire to make everyday discoveries of their own. Ages 3-6. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-With spare text to accompany the stunning watercolor illustrations, Arnosky tells a simple story of the sequence of seasons. Knowing that winter is coming, a huge, black bear appears in the wooded hill behind a farm, searching for a resting place. Menacing the smaller animals who inhabit these woods, he follows each trail until he finds an appropriate den for his long sleep. It is the pencil and watercolor images that provide the excitement here, as each creature in turn is alerted to the bear's presence. Although they remain motionless and seemingly hidden, he knows they are there. One powerful double-page spread depicts a frightened raccoon huddled in a hollow log on which the bear stands as he drinks from a spring. Occasionally, the effort to sound poetic is a bit forced; the word juxtapositions used to create the mood seem awkward, as with the title. Nonetheless, the overall effect created by the few words on each page integrated with the large, colorful illustrations is a harmonious one. The size of the pictures makes this especially appropriate for group sharing, and the subject matter suggests that it could be used with other books about hibernation and the change of seasons. A welcome addition to picture-book collections that should prove to be popular with beginning readers.- Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Every autumn before the onset of winter, a bear shows up in the 'wild and rugged' woods behind the narrator's farm, eventually finding a den in which to hibernate. Lovely, expansive watercolors and a spare text detail Arnosky's keen observation of nature and evoke the rhythms of the natural world. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In a brief, conversational narrative, Vermonter Arnosky describes a bear arriving on the rocky, wooded hill near his home, disturbing a bobcat in his explorations, taking a last drink from the spring, clawing a tree, and choosing a den for the winter (``Nestled there against cold rock, with only fat and fur to keep him warm''). In Arnosky's luminous watercolors, many other species appear, not all named but all identifiable in his carefully observed art--raccoon, fox, porcupine, deer, cheery little redbreasted nuthatches. As in his other animal portraits (Otters Under Water, 1992), the simply sketched settings are artfully constructed and interestingly varied; on this day, at different times between dawn and dusk, the sun gleams through the shadowed woods and later there's a snow flurry. Again, real natural history in a lovely book. (Picture book. 3-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
