Perfect Picture Book Friday - Baby Bear Discovers The World

I just want you all to know that whilst you're going about your business like normal people, I am babysitting the Wild Kingdom.  Just look what's been in our yard this week!

First, an enterprising Snapping Turtle came to the foot of our back porch steps, made her nest, and laid her eggs!

So of course now I'm guarding the nest from raccoons and skunks... and my dogs!  I want those baby turtles to hatch!  Then I think I'll have to escort them down to the water... which is not very near at all... I don't know what their mama was thinking!... because I don't want them to get picked off by predators on their journey, and apparently everything thinks baby snapping turtle is tasty!  Approximately 9 weeks 'til Hatchday according to some site we googled :)

Then, our friend the bear came strolling by to see if perhaps we had carelessly left the bird feeder hanging around (we had not! because although it's lovely to see him from inside the house, we don't really like to encourage him to hang around.)

Yes, that is our back porch railing.  Sorry the picture is a little blurry - I took it through the glass because the dogs were barking their heads off and hurling themselves at the French door and I thought it best if they didn't tangle with Blackie :)

So given the theme of the week, I decided to celebrate the last day of Perfect Picture Books before summer with an appropriate title.  I was torn between 2 books, both by Marion Dane Bauer.  I chose Baby Bear Discovers The World for obvious reasons, but The Cutest Critter is equally good if you care to check it out!

Title: Baby Bear Discovers The World
Written By: Marion Dane Bauer
Photography By: Stan Tekiela
Adventure Publications Inc, 2006, Factual Fiction with great photos

Suitable For Ages: 3 and up

Themes/Topics: wild animals, growing up, independence, nature

Opening: One fine spring morning Baby Bear said to his mama, "Mama, I'm a big bear now.  It's time for me to go out and discover the world.  Then he kissed his mama so she would know he meant business."

Brief Synopsis: From the jacket: "Follow Baby Bear's excursion into the big world as he tries to prove his independence, wandering closer and closer to places he doesn't belong.  Using twin cubs and the assistance of a handler, Stan [the photographer] succeeded in getting all the photos for this book from the cubs' natural reactions to their surroundings.  His ability to capture everything from their inquisitive faces to actually tumbling from a log is delightfully documented."

Links To Resources:  Everything you need is right here!  The back of the book has a section on bear facts - characteristics, activity, diet, cubs, and hibernation.  It also has a section on how the book was photographed, and another section of "outtakes and bloopers" photos - SO CUTE! :)  You can also go for a walk and look for signs of animals - paw prints, nests, etc.  City or country, you're likely to discover some fun things, just like Baby Bear :)

Why I Like This Book:  I just absolutely adore wildlife photography.  This book combines a fun story about learning independence with exquisite photography of lots of animals besides the bears along with the surrounding flora.  It's fun just to look at the pictures :)  The outtakes and bloopers photos are also tons of fun and make the experience of the book even better.  Wait until you see the picture of Baby Bear licking a mouse :)

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

I'm sad that this is our last week of PPBF for the summer, but I think we can all use a little break to refresh and refuel and come back better than ever in the fall.  I haven't yet decided what I might put in in place of PPBF... I may not put anything.  I could use a little more writing time, so perhaps for the summer I will blog twice a week... I don't know - we'll see :)

Meanwhile, if anyone is looking at any spare time this weekend, let me remind you all of the upcoming 4th Of July Secret Mystery Writing Contest!  First prize is a picture book manuscript critique from the one and only Simone Kaplan, so start knocking those ideas around! :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!  PPBF bloggers, please leave your last *sniff* post-specific link for the summer *sniff* so we can all round out our summer reading lists!  (Here's hoping the Simply Linked List will work this week! :))