Mom’s Monday- Moon Bear
Moon Bear Guberson and Young
published: May 11th 2010 by Henry Holt and Co. details Hardcover, 40 pages
isbn: 0805089772
isbn: 0805089772
source: copy for review from publisher
4 stars
Booklist
“Filled with passionate conservation messages, this picture book both celebrates the endangered black moon bear in Southeast Asia and warns about the urgent threats against the species. Filled with physical details, the spare, question-and-answer text (“Who scratches and shuffles through soggy leaf litter? . . . Who climbs to the snow / in the high Himalayas?”) is illustrated with Young’s stark, large silhouette images of a beautiful, dark bear through the seasons, feasting on raspberries, confronting a deer, and clawing a tree. Contrasting images, show a moon bear in distant views, small against a purple sky and threatened by poachers as he passes forests cleared by loggers. In a series of warm scenarios, a mother bear snuggles up to hibernate in winter and then shuffles out again in spring with her baby moon bear cubs. Young’s dramatic art lends itself to group sharing, and many kids will hear the author’s final call, accompanied by photos of moon bears and a list of conservation organizations, to help save these creatures from lifelong captivity or extinction. Preschool-Grade 3.” –Hazel Rochman
Booklist
“Filled with passionate conservation messages, this picture book both celebrates the endangered black moon bear in Southeast Asia and warns about the urgent threats against the species. Filled with physical details, the spare, question-and-answer text (“Who scratches and shuffles through soggy leaf litter? . . . Who climbs to the snow / in the high Himalayas?”) is illustrated with Young’s stark, large silhouette images of a beautiful, dark bear through the seasons, feasting on raspberries, confronting a deer, and clawing a tree. Contrasting images, show a moon bear in distant views, small against a purple sky and threatened by poachers as he passes forests cleared by loggers. In a series of warm scenarios, a mother bear snuggles up to hibernate in winter and then shuffles out again in spring with her baby moon bear cubs. Young’s dramatic art lends itself to group sharing, and many kids will hear the author’s final call, accompanied by photos of moon bears and a list of conservation organizations, to help save these creatures from lifelong captivity or extinction. Preschool-Grade 3.” –Hazel Rochman
Moon Bear is a great way to introduce your child to the importance of conservation. Done in collage art work set against real photographs, the pages are inviting and prose easy to read. We follow an Asiatic Black Bear as she “eats, plays, hibernates and wakes up again in Spring” (front cover) The author’s notes at the end helps us to see real bears at the Animals Asia Moon Bear rescue Center in China and there is an invitation for all to help. Moon Bear is a wonderful library addition for families across the globe!
