Bibliography
Ward, L. (1952). The Biggest Bear. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Summary
This endearing story is about a boy named Johnny who is determined to go and shoot himself the biggest bear he can find. What he finds, though, is a bear cub, which Johnny takes home with him and raises as a pet. As the bear grows larger, he becomes a nuisance to the neighbors. The neighbors start complaining and Johnny’s father tells Johnny that the bear must go away. Johnny takes his bear west, east, and south, but the bear keeps showing back up on the farm. For the fourth time, Johnny takes his bear out, this time going north and carrying a rifle, to make sure that the bear doesn’t come back again. But Johnny and his bear walk into a trap and are caught by some men who work for the zoo. So Johnny’s bear goes to live in the zoo.
My Thoughts
This is a touching story of the shared bond between a boy and a bear. My heart went out to the boy as he came to realize that he would have to kill the bear that he loved so much; likewise, my heart rejoiced for the boy when he found that his bear would always be safe and cared for at the zoo. What makes this book spectacular, though, is the award-winning artwork that accompanies the story. Although drawn in black and white and shades of gray, the illustrations are intricately detailed. The facial expressions of the people (the boy in particular) and of the animals animate the words that would otherwise be lifeless.
Book Reviews
“Ward, Lynd. The Biggest Bear (published in 1952 by Houghton Mifflin Company and republished by Scholastic Book Services, a division of Scholastic Magazines Inc., New York City, NY.) Johnny Orchard lives on the farm farthest up the valley and closest to the woods. His grandfather had planted some apple trees, so it became known as Orchard’s Orchard. Every other farm in the area has a bearskin nailed up to dry on the barn, but not Johnny’s. The only bear in his family history is the one which frightened Grandpa when he was picking apples. When Johnny asked why he had run the other way, his grandfather said, “Better a bear in the orchard than an Orchard in the bear.” It was humiliating. So Johnny sets off to the woods with his rifle to find him a bear. Will he get one? And if he does, what will he do with it?
“The Biggest Bear is the kind of book that is great for beginning readers because it tells an interesting story in complete sentences but uses simple, though not dumbed-down, language and is short enough to keep a young child’s attention. It is the sort of thing that youngsters used to be given after they had learned their phonics in order to help them practice their reading and comprehension skills. That is, until the boring basal readers were developed to go along with the look-say method. It is a really cute tale, and the pictures are enjoyable too. Even though Johnny ends up getting in big trouble, not from any wrong doing, the ending is very satisfactory. I haven’t seen an early reading book that I thought was as good as this one in a long time.
Walker, W. (2010, April 24). The Biggest Bear [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolbook review/779469/
Ideas for Use
This would be a great book to use in a book discussion with kids, using questions such as “Have you ever had a pet you had to say goodbye to?” or “If Johnny came across a grown bear in the woods today, do you think he would want to shoot it like he wanted to at the beginning of the story? Why or why not?”
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