The Wild Girl

Book Description

In the great wide wilderness, a little girl and her dog live alone in a cave high up on the mountainside. They are happy surviving on their own, until one day in the bitter cold of winter, they see bear tracks in the snow that lead right up to their cave ...

Charming illustrations bring life to this sweet story of courage and compassion, written and illustrated by award-winning author and illustrator Chris Wormell.

Customer Reviews:

Bear necessities.......2006-12-12

Chris Wormell books aren't flashy and extravagant. They don't bop you over the head with shiny foil or cartoonish glee or wild dance sequences. As a children's librarian it was with great relief that I discovered that there are as many different kinds of picture books out there as there are works of adult fiction. There is undoubtedly a picture book out there for every kind of child. And let us say that you have a kid that likes the idea of seeing other kids surviving on their own. Maybe they want a Man v. Nature book, but intended for the preschooler set. Robinson Crusoe for toddlers. Pint-sized future "Hatchet" lovers. For such children, Wormell hands us a remarkably satisfying tale of a girl and her dog living in an age that may or may not have yet discovered iron.

Perhaps the book takes place in the past. Perhaps in the far future. Whatever the case, this is the tale of a girl who lives all by herself with her dog. The girl doesn't go to school or wear shoes or have anyone living nearby. And though she and her pup catch fish and pick berries, roots, and bugs for their meals, she's lonely. One day in the snowy winter, the girl and her dog are out collecting firewood when they see tracks that work their way towards their cave. The animal isn't there when they arrive but they arm themselves in case it returns. Return it does. The enormous bear fills the cave entrance but leaves the child and canine almost immediately. It's then that the two realize that they are still not alone. From their little nest at the back of the cave emerges a baby bear cub. Frantically the girl attempts to relocate the mama bear, but must turn for home when she cannot locate her. Fortunately, who should be standing in the cave's entrance than the mother bear. "That winter, the cave high up on the mountainside was the snuggest, warmest place in all the wide wilderness," says the book as all three sleep contentedly together. "But by the spring, they all had fleas."

There's no denying that kids daydream of living in a world without grownups. The girl in this book almost fulfils a kind of ultimate fantasy. She gets to run around all day with her dog doing cool stuff like hunting and making fires. Of course, at the same time she's lonely, and the final image of her tucked snugly within the mama bear's fur (her hair almost one with the animal's thick brown pelt) is a deeply reassuring one. It seems to suggest that the girl has found a mother substitute. Of course, mother bears aren't so acquiescent as to leave their young anywhere near small girls and dogs without a fight. This is hardly a book about real world situations, but the reason why the bear leaves the cave with "strange, sad eyes" in the first place is never adequately explained.

Fortunately, at no point in this book is the art ever static or dull. Though Wormell limits his palette to browns, blue-purples, and the softest cream-colored pages, the images are always moving or filling up their pages with aplomb. When showing the girl going through her normal routine, the action breaks up into small vignettes. And when the girl looks across the valley for any sign of human life, we see sweeping vistas of purple-tipped mountains. Wormell can evoke snug and scary within a series of several frames. The watercolors are delicate and reflect the odd sweet little story perfectly.

It's always fun to try and guess what book might pair the best with a given title. The book I kept coming back to as I read "The Wild Girl" would have to be "Weslandia" by Kevin Hawkes. In both books a child creates their own singular society without parental interference/existence. Of course, this particular book has an appeal entirely of its own. Best read to the child that dreams of freedom and comfort in a single package.

A Fabulous Tale of Compassion.......2006-10-27

This is a really sweet tale of a young girl in the wilds of the world. With her little dog in tow, she comes upon a creature of the unknown and mistakenly bases her actions on fear and prejudice. Compassion wins the day and our small warrior comes to a greater understanding of the world and herself. This tale also touches on the values of individuality and the need for interdependence.

Artistic Wildlife Projects for the Scroll Saw: Bears, Wild Cats, Birds of Prey and Other Predators from Around the World

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Artistic Wildlife Projects for the Scroll Saw: Bears, Wild Cats, Birds of Prey and Other Predators from Around the World
Marilyn Carmin
Manufacturer: Fox Chapel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1565232240

Book Description

Featuring dozens of wildlife patterns for scroll saw woodworking, this book goes beyond other pattern books by providing instructions for altering patterns so carvers can create a unique piece of art every time. Also included are helpful instructions on the basics of scroll saw woodcutting, as well as more difficult techniques like converting a traditional fretwork woodworking into a 3-D relief or fashioning a shadow box pattern. Among the 91 exciting patterns provided are eagles, owls, cougars, bobcats, wolves, bears, and whales. Tips on how to build a display for newly completed pieces are also included.

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A great book for kids about the Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bears (World Life Library)
Gary Turbak
Manufacturer: Voyageur Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0896583341

Book Description

This top-selling series introduces the wild creatures of the world and examines the natural world. Good general introductions for ages 10+, these volumes contain the knowledge, personal experiences, and research of leading naturalists and scientists, accompanied by stunning photography. Unless otherwise noted (*), all volumes are sturdy paperback.

Customer Reviews:

A great book for kids about the Grizzly Bear.......2004-03-17

This is really a great book for children to learn about one of the most fascinating of mammals, the Grizzly Bear. The well-written and almost poetic text, is brief but concise, and is complemented by numerous captivating colour pictures of the Grizzly and its majestic habitat.

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Not a good reference book for an Artist
Black Bears (Our Wild World Series)

Black Bears (Our Wild World Series)
Kathy Feeney
Manufacturer: Northword Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1559717424

Book Description

Every title contains: -Where the animal lives, what it eats, when it sleeps, how it raises its young, and much more. -Over 30 vivid, full color photos and illustrations. -Sidebar 'Fun Facts,' an index and a list of useful Internet Sites.

Customer Reviews:

Not a good reference book for an Artist .......2007-01-03

I am a artist and bought this book for reference for painting bears. I discovered I could have taken better photos of bears at the zoo than what is in this book.

Black Bears (Our Wild World Series).......2003-09-05

My four year old son became interested in bears when we were in the Adirondacks. He wanted to get a factual bear book to learn more about bears, rather than a storybook. While some of the information is beyond him, there is at least one paragraph on every page that I can read to him. It is presented in a simple, straightforward manner and there are lots of excellent photographs to accompany the text. This book has become a favorite - we read it every night!

True Grizz: Glimpses of Fernie, Stahr, Easy, Dakota, and Other Real Bears in the Modern World

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Real bears, real people
Good surface read on real bears
A nice change from all the bear attack books out today!
Good Book, Not Must Have
true grizz

True Grizz: Glimpses of Fernie, Stahr, Easy, Dakota, and Other Real Bears in the Modern World
Douglas H. Chadwick
Manufacturer: Sierra Club Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Grandest of Lives: Eye to Eye with Whales

ASIN: 1578051347

Book Description

On the outskirts of a Montana town, a female grizzly and her cubs catch the scent of a bag of dog food left out on a porch. It has been a poor autumn for berries in the backcountry, and the temptation to snatch an easy meal from human territory is strong. If the bears succeed often enough, they will be more likely to go into their winter den with the fat reserves needed for survival. But with each such raid, the bears' chances of getting caught or killed increase dramatically.
In True Grizz, author Douglas Chadwick joins a crew of dedicated wildlife managers working to educate grizzlies about where they should and shouldn't go in the populated areas of northwestern Montana. With "schooling" methods that range from shooting the bears with rubber bullets to charging at them with teams of specially trained Karelian dogs, these people are doing everything they can to save a threatened species. This challenge grows increasingly difficult as human development encroaches upon the bears' habitat, leaving grizz little choice but to share landscapes with us.
Breaking with the tradition of tales that depict bears as either ferocious monsters or icons of pure wilderness, Chadwick gives us a refreshingly clear-eyed view of individual grizzlies and their complex personalities. As he chronicles the lives of Fernie, Stahr, Easy, Dakota, and other "problem" bears--and shares his personal insights about free-roaming grizzlies gained through close observation for more than three decades--Chadwick offers a realistic yet poignant picture of grizz as big, strong, bright, adaptable omnivores trying to get by in the modern world any way they can.

Customer Reviews:

Real bears, real people.......2006-12-08

The core of this book is a series of stories about "teaching" grizzlies in northwestern Montana to avoid point. Chadwick, a wildlife biologist by training and now a journalist, rides shotgun with a pair of people and a team of Karelian bear dogs that engage in aversive conditioning, intended to make grizzlies associate human settlements with bad noises, rubber bullets, aggressive dogs, and other nuisances. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't. It's easier in years with abundant berry crops before the bears hibernate, and it's harder in droughts.

Wrapped around this core narrative are various side stories about Chadwick and grizzlies. He had some imaginary encounters as a child, and some more serious encounters as an adult. These anecdotes are sometimes amusing, and at other times serve to explore his central theme.

What is that theme? That grizzlies are smart animals and that, like a few other smart animals, they have personalities. Individual grizzlies are, well, individuals. They grow up in a variety of home environments, have different socialization experiences, and are born with different personalities. As a biologist, Chadwick knows very well that you aren't "supposed" to anthropomorphize animals, but to him it seems silly not to recognize these obvious differences among animals.

Chadwick hits exactly the right notes on this theme. Since grizzlies are individuals, there's nothing wrong with giving them names - - and, as he notes, naming bears makes it easier to convince humans to behave better around them. At the same time, they're animals, and they're wild - - unlike (say) Timothy Treadwell, he doesn't pretend that they're humans, or that humans are bears. He maintains, much more sensibly, that grizzly behavior varies not only from one context to another, but from one animal to another.

The same is true of humans, of course. Chadwick tells the stories of many people who interact with bears, mostly by accidentally leaving food out where grizzlies can find it. Dog food on the porch, a deer hanging in a shed with the door ajar, bird feeders, and other such things can attract grizzlies. Some people like seeing grizzlies, some are terrified, others don't much care. The anti-grizzly community tends to be the loudest, but as someone who has lived in Montana for decades Chadwick argues persuasively that most people have a generally benign view of the bears. But people, like grizzlies, are individuals.

In fact, while this *looks like* a book about bears, it's really more about human interactions with bears. In contrast to the Timothy Treadwell mystical bears, or the Bear Attacks! ferocious bears, Chadwick tells a story of ordinary bears sharing a region with ordinary people.

If you're interested in wildlife or human interactions with wildlife, this book is well worth reading. It's mostly a collection of pleasant anecdotes with a handful of meditations on bears and humans thrown in. A good read.

Good surface read on real bears.......2005-09-19

Chadwick presents the ursus horriblius (Grizzly Bear) in the closest account true to its real existance. This is not a book of sensational attacks and mystique, or of tree hugging enviro freaks. It is an easy read of the everyday experience of the bear managers of the Flathead in Montana.

The only drawback is Chadwick's over zealous use of personification of bears. The names are used in management only as the equivelent of numbers, but Chadwick takes it rather far in depicting what he calls "bearalities".

Bottom Line... A must read for anyone interested in the "real" real bears.

tim

A nice change from all the bear attack books out today!.......2004-09-19

I truly enjoyed this book, not just because it shows bears in a better and more realistic light than many other books which focus only on bear attacks, but also because of how eloquently it is written. Doug Chadwick obviously has a passion for the wilderness and bears, and in this book he presents not only the benefits of wilderness but also unflinchingly discusses both problems and some solutions for allowing grizzlies enough space to live. Reading this book, I felt like I was sitting in the author's living room while he chatted with me about bear/human conflicts and many of the experiences he has had. You find yourself wiser and more informed without feeling like someone just lectured to you! This book is important as more and more people move into previously wild areas of the west!

Good Book, Not Must Have.......2004-03-26

We seem to be increasing our volumes of "bear journalism" at a rapid pace but I'm not sure we ever needed to go beyond Peacock's "Grizzly Years." I find the author and his cohorts well-intentioned, but do we really need to know everything there is to know about the grizzly? Do we need to radio-collar them and track them and tag them and pursue them and give them cutesy, anthropomorphic names? Why can't we just accept their mystical and awesome presence and perhaps spend a bit less time and energy destroying their habitat?

true grizz.......2003-12-02

Overall, a good book. Chronicles the day-to-day happenings of a team of biologists that scare/chase bears away from the homes of individuals residing near the Whitefish Mountain Range in Montana. A little bit too much on the politics though!

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Polar Bears (Our Wild World)
Linda Tagliaferro
Manufacturer: Northword Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1559718285

Book Description

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More than just polar bears....

The World of the Polar Bear

Manufacturer: Firefly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 155209068X

Book Description

The World of the Polar Bear is an unsurpassed photographic tribute to one of nature's most compelling and beautiful animals and to the world in which it lives. Here, in an unforgiving ecosystem, animals and birds come together in a delicate balance of life. Each year, thousands of people from around the world travel to Churchill, Manitoba, to see polar bears, northern lights, whales and the annual bird migrations.

But the king of the region is the polar bear, or Nanook, as it is known by the indigenous people. Superbly adapted for life in one of the most severe landscapes on Earth, the polar bear holds the record as the world's largest terrestrial carnivore: the female weighs up to 770 pounds, while the male can tip the scales at 1,500 pounds and stand 10 feet tall on its hind legs.

Norbert Rosing is uniquely qualified to write about polar bears. His fascination with them began in 1983 on his first visit to Canada. After a 1,000-mile train trip from Winnipeg to Churchill, he arrived to find that a sudden arctic storm had transformed the town into an icy desert. Not only did his film freeze and break, but his camera stopped functioning permanently.

However, Rosing did see his first polar bear. Fascinated by this magnificent white mammal, he now returns to the Arctic up to three times a year to study and photograph polar bears, and he has come to regard Churchill as his home away from home.

Customer Reviews:

More than just polar bears...........2000-11-18

This is a great book not only for photographs and information about polar bears but about the entire area in and around Churchill, Manitoba. While the initial focus is on the bears there are also sections on the other animial life on the arctic tundra, the variety of birdlife, and some amazing photos of the northern lights. There are also maps and charts explaining why the area is such a magnet for polar bears and other things. I recently returned from a visit to Churchill and this book is a wonderful keepsake of my trip.

Koala Country: A Story of an Australian Eucalyptus Forest (Wild Habitats)

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Koala Country: A Story of an Australian Eucalyptus Forest (Wild Habitats)
Deborah Dennard
Manufacturer: Soundprints
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1568998899

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The Bear (Stars of the Animal World)

Manufacturer: Elsa Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Bears of the World
Terry Domico , and Mark Newman
Manufacturer: Facts on File
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0816015368

Customer Reviews:

Something for everyone.......1999-11-27

It just goes to show, you can always learn something new.

That's what the author should use as a tag line. I thought I was pretty good with a map & compass, but I learned several faster, easier techniques from this book. This text is suitable for beginners to intermediates. It includes key info for people who've been delaying their first USGS map purchase, because they've been intimidated by the "experts" at their local outdoors store. You'll be happier with your next compass purchase if read this book FIRST. The section on GPS is brief but useful as a primer for a more specialized text on that subject. One of the trickier diagrams on declination **might** be wrong but the text is correct. Overall I was very pleased with this book.

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The Outward Bound Map and Compass Handbook
Glenn Randall
Manufacturer: Lyons Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1558210229

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