Eat Up, Bear!

by Terry Pierce, Nadja Sarell (Illustrator)

Overview

"A great introduction to enjoying nature without disturbing its rhythms."—Foreword Reviews

Curious, hungry black bears just want to eat! Juicy berries, crunchy nuts, tender grubs, sticky honey—that’s good bear food. But if little park visitors and their families don’t watch out, their food will be bear food, too! The bouncy rhyming text and vibrant pictures in this board book show how people of all ages can help keep bears safe and thriving. Perfect for first-time and seasoned campers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951179014
Publisher:	Yosemite Conservancy
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Pages:	14
Sales rank:	570,562
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Terry Pierce is the author of twenty-five children’s books, including Mama Loves You So, Mother Earth’s Lullaby, and My Busy Green Garden. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and teaches for UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. Terry is an outdoor enthusiast, enjoying backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, and, of course, bear sightings near her home in Mammoth Lakes, California.

Nadja Sarell has a degree in illustration from the North Wales School of Art and Design as well as an MA in dance from Theatre Academy Helsinki. She is the illustrator behind The One and Only Wolfgang, written by Instagram sensation Steve Greig aka @wolfgang2242 and author Mary Rand Hess, and the Frankie Sparks, Third Grade Inventor series. She lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Read an Excerpt

Many people. Many bears. Sharing spaces everywhere.

But bears are hungry. Clever, too.

Take care or bears will eat your food!

When campers latch their boxes right. . .

There, there. Eat up, bear!

Good bear food is everywhere.

When people throw their trash away. . .

There, there. Eat up, bear!

Good bear food is everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

08/09/2021

Published by a nonprofit dedicated to preserving California’s Yosemite National Park, home to hundreds of black bears, this rhythmic board book has a clear message: bears in the wild should not consume human food, and humans ought to take precautions to ensure they don’t. Employing the catchy refrain “There, there. Eat up, bear!/ Good bear food is everywhere,” Pierce traces actions that humans can take to protect their food (“When campers latch their boxes right...”) and thereby guarantee that the omnivorous black bears eat appropriate bear food: nondescript blue and red berries from bushes, larvae from a fallen tree trunk, fish from a river, and more. Sarell’s richly saturated illustrations have a cartoonish, round-eyed bent, depicting bands of bears in various positions as well as human campers of varying abilities, ages, and skin tones. A forthright introduction to eco-friendly behaviors for the youngest campers. Ages up to 3. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Foreword Reviews, March/April 2021:

"Autumn campers and hikers peaceably coexist with hungry bears in this board book with a lesson for little nature-goers: all are kept safe when people remember to properly lock up, and dispose of, their foods in the wild. Bright scenes, set along streams, trails, and among orange-leaved trees, find happy bears chowing down on natural delights while wide-eyed human beings picnic responsibly, at a safe distance from the hungry furballs, making this a great introduction to enjoying nature without disturbing its rhythms."

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2021:

"Readers aren’t going to miss the noble, not-so-subtle theme of this educational board book: that humans must 'take care or bears will eat your food!' . . . Bright, almost painterly, full-bleed illustrations pay homage to the lovely scenery both bears and humans are enjoying, and while the illustrations are more cartoony than photorealistic, the bears’ natural poses as they chow down remind readers that these are real animals they are trying to protect."

From the Publisher

2021-03-02
Humans can play an important role in keeping bears safe by ensuring our food is securely tucked away.

Readers aren’t going to miss the noble, not-so-subtle theme of this educational board book: that humans must “take care or bears will eat your food!” On the left-hand page of each spread, a diverse assemblage of picnickers, campers, and hikers plainly demonstrate various methods of keeping bears away from tempting people-food, including locking up coolers, using bear-safe containers, and appropriately disposing of trash. Safely separated by the gutter, bears on the right-hand page nosh blissfully on insects, acorns, berries, and the like. Bright, almost painterly, full-bleed illustrations pay homage to the lovely scenery both bears and humans are enjoying, and while the illustrations are more cartoony than photorealistic, the bears’ natural poses as they chow down remind readers that these are real animals they are trying to protect. But while this board book clearly introduces safe food storage to little hikers, it’s still a somewhat odd conceit: Children, particularly toddlers, generally don’t plan trips or handle the gear. The text also flags in its read-aloud rhythm. It opens and closes with peppy couplets, but the rhyme disappears abruptly, replaced with a clunky repetitive refrain that feels awkward and unfinished.

Though challenging to read aloud, it should raise bear awareness for young wildlife enthusiasts. (Board book. 1-4)

Kirkus Reviews