Golden Oldies Fridays ~ The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward

I have a large collection of vintage children's books, so I have decided to start a "Golden Oldies Friday".
Each Friday I will feature a vintage children's book that is at least 20 years old. I worked as an elementary school librarian from 1974 to 2005, so I am looking forward to digging out some of my old favorites and writing about them on this blog.

The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward
I first heard about this book in my Children's Literature class in the mid-1970s. I will never forget how the instructor read this book aloud to our class of future teachers and librarians.
Johnny Orchard is a young farm boy in the 1950s. He is upset because all of the neighbors have a bear skin hanging on the side of their barns. Johnny decides to take his gun and head out to the woods to shoot a bear. He soon spots a bear...a hungry baby bear. Johnny gives the bear some maple sugar from his pocket and takes him home. He convinces his parents that they should keep the bear and raise him.
Johnny and his family soon find out that a growing bear eats a huge amount of food. The bear causes all kinds of problems in the house and in the entire neighborhood.  One day, Johnny's father tells him the bear has to go back to live in the woods. Each time Johnny leads the bear into the woods, the bear comes right back to Johnny's house in a day or two.
Sadly, Johnny decides he will have to shoot the biggest bear. He leads the  bear out to the woods and loads his gun. Suddenly, the bear takes off running through the woods dragging Johnny behind him.  The bear (and Johnny) run right into a bear trap that is baited with maple sugar.
Soon some men come running up and say they are trying to capture a bear to put in the zoo. They tell Johnny that his bear will have a good home, plenty of food and he can come visit as often as he wants to.
The bear likes his new home and Johnny visits often. There is a sign that says "Biggest Bear" at the top of his cage.

The Caldecott Medal
"The Biggest Bear" was first published in 1952. It was illustrated using opaque watercolors, and won the prestigious Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1953.

My Thoughts
Through the years, there has been some controversy about this book. Some people say it encourages killing animals as a sport. It is disturbing to some people to see a young boy walking alone in the woods with a loaded gun on a bear hunting expedition.
I am not a hunter and I do not come from a family of hunters. Personally, I do not understand how people can have fun hunting down and killing wild animals. I do think this book provides young readers with an outstanding  opportunity to see what life was like living on a farm in the 1940s. This book could also lead to a discussion on the pros and cons of hunting...and the pros and cons of capturing wild animals and putting them in the zoo.
The highlight of this book is definitely the illustrations. The paintings are magnificent and the book is worth your attention just for the illustrations alone. You can spend hours pouring over the pictures with your child and talking about how things were back in the "olden days".
This book will always be a "Golden Oldie" in my collection of vintage children's books.

Next week, I will feature "Miss Rumphius" by Barbara Cooney in my Golden Oldies Friday post.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below ~ I would love to hear from you.



A Powerful Testimony

Sharquent Webster shares the story of her tragic childhood in "He Kan't Kill Your Future: For I Know the Plans I Have for You Declares the Lord...". The good thing about this book is that it has a happy, joyful ending. This book is a testimony about how the love of Jesus Christ can change lives.

I now realize that I have lived a very sheltered life. I have to admit that many parts of this book were difficult for me to read. I never imagined that there are children in the United States who are living in this kind of poverty and abuse.  It was difficult to put this book down because I really needed to find out how this courageous young woman could overcome such a horrific childhood.

Mrs. Webster is not a professional writer but she writes from the heart and soul. I felt like she was talking directly to me when she was writing about how she was the seventh of ten children in a family growing up in South Central Los Angeles. Her father left the family and her mother suffered serious mental problems as she struggled to keep her family fed. Her mother dealt with the pressures of caring for her large family by dumpster diving and hoarding. She often left her children alone while she walked the streets in search of food and treasures.

Sharquent provides vivid details about how she walked the streets, was molested, raped and developed a drug addiction before she was old enough to drive. She hustled and snatched purses to finance her drug habit. She dropped out of school in junior high and spent her teenage years running with gang members and drug dealers. She eventually spent some time in jail but this did not heal her craving for PCP and crack. She had two children and lost custody of both of them.

Sharquent finally "hit bottom" and decided to enter the Victory Outreach Rehabilitation Center. This was a Christian home for young women who were homeless and broken. She spent a year at Victory Outreach and graduated from the program. She learned about the love of Christ and the fact that He had good plans for her life. The Lord could heal her and use her to help other hurting women.

Sharquent Webster is a powerful example of how God can take a "no-good dirty drug addict" and use her to bring Him glory. Jesus saves.

I want to thank Mrs. Webster for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. Reading this book was an experience that I won't soon forget.

Please post your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Book Bloggers Sell Books

I have been blogging about books for several years and have learned many things about writing book reviews. I recently found an interesting article about book blogging written by Lynnette Phillips.  Ms. Phillips reviews books and writes about book news on the Avid Readers Book Review Blog.

Confessions and Secrets of the Avid Book Reviews Blogger: Book Bloggers Sell Books  offers book authors some helpful tips on how book bloggers promote and sell books. The author tells a fascinating story about how she started book blogging. Her mother taught her to love books when she was a child. She has always been an avid reader.
Ms. Phillips worked to earn a living but she yearned to have more time to read her beloved books. She advised us to be careful what we wish for because she later broke both her ankles! She had plenty of time to read during her recovery.
She started a book blog and specializes in promoting the works of independent authors. Here are a few tips that Ms. Phillips provides to authors who are looking for book bloggers;

• Know the difference between copy editing, proofreading and what an editor does. It is not acceptable to publish a book with misspelled words or grammatical errors. I cringe when I find errors in published books.
• When you find a book blog, be sure to read their review policy. Many bloggers specialize in specific genres and will not review books outside their expertise.
• The author should send the book blogger an inquiry email introducing himself and briefly telling about his book. He should also offer the blogger a copy of the book.
• The author shoud ask the book blogger if they will post a copy of their review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Book bloggers have the potential of reaching thousands of readers.
• The author should check to see if the book blogger will provide a link to his website or blog. It is also important for the blogger to include locations where the book can be purchased.

My Thoughts
I want to emphasize that this is a short article, it is NOT a book. I did find it very interesting because Ms. Phillips has had many of the same experiences that I have had. She learned that sometimes you find some real gems but you also find some books that should never have been published. Ms. Phillips has shared some valuable information that she has learned from first-hand experience.
I totally agree that book bloggers sell books. I have purchased many books to read after reading the dynamic reviews of my fellow book bloggers.  I also think that book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are very influential. Book bloggers are gaining the respect of authors, publicists and publishers because they really DO SELL BOOKS!

Do you read book reviews before you purchase a new book? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.