This book is one part autobiography, one part art class and two parts inspiration. McPhail portrays the life of an artist through the story of a bear with an artistic bent.

From the time he was just a cub in the woods, little bear dreamt of being an artist. He found he could not stop drawing, whether it be making claw mark portraits in the dirt or using a burnt stick to render landscapes on paper foraged at the local dump. As his talent grows, so do his opportunities, and soon the bear is plying his craft for kings, queens and presidents.

Just as art can be found anywhere, so can artists. That's the moral McPhail hopes to impart with this book: you can be an artist if that's what you want to be. All you have to do is say it, "I am an artist." Children will get the message that, like the bear, they too can nurture their talents.

McPhail's drawing techniques are illustrated on the flyleaf of the book. His softly colored pencil drawings between the covers are warm and sweet. A good book to encourage budding artists.

Throughout life, people have many different ambitions. Some begin thinking about these during childhood, through simple daydreams that they have about different occupations. It may seem to some that a child's catch phrase is, "I want to be a ____ when I grow up." Whether or not they achieve these goals is not what is important. What is important is that they realize that they can be whatever they want, as long as they try hard for it. In Drawing Lessons From a Bear, David McPhail portrays this reoccurring theme. He shows that one can be anything they want to be, despite their race, gender, religion, or background. This book is about a bear whose mother gives him lessons on "how to be a bear." While learning who he is, he begins doodling in the sand. The next thing he knows, his meaningless marks turn into actual pictures. He says, "At first the drawings did not look like much, but the more I drew, the better my drawings looked" (McPhail). As time goes on, he begins spending his free time drawing. While his mother and some others bears are at the dump looking for something to eat, he spends his time looking for scraps of paper that he can use for drawing. While he is in class learning to read and write, he sits in the back of the room and draws. He draws all during the day and at night. Through all of this, he receives support and encouragement from his mother and from his teacher. "She [his mother] was so pleased that she put it [his drawing] on the wall of our den" (McPhail). His teacher also encourages him, even when he draws during class. Encouragement from family and friends is one of the most important ways to help a child carry out his/her ambitions. Without encouragement, a child will not be as motivated to carry out his/her dreams. Encouragement and motivation will take a child a long way. David McPhail does an excellent job of teaching children that they can do what they want by using a bear as the main character. Through his own life experiences, this friendly bear shows that with a little time and dedication, one can be what they want to be. He uses his life as an artist as his example, but when he says, "Just as you can be an artist if that's what you want to be," he is using an artist to symbolize any dream that a child may want to fulfill. He also uses drawing to symbolize any child's ambition when he says, "If you love to draw and you'd rather spend your time drawing than doing just about anything else, I'd say you're well on your way." In this statement, he encourages children to take their talent and do the best that they can with it. The main theme of this book is summed up in one part of the book. The bear states, "For I am a bear. I am content to live in my den in the forest and draw pictures. I was born a bear, and I will always be a bear. But I am an artist, too, because that is what I have decided to be." Here he shows that he has accepted who he is, and he knows that he cannot change the fact that he is a bear, but he has decided that he can be other things besides being a bear. This relates to life in the way that people cannot change the fact that they are white or black, boy or girl, or even that they may be from a different country, but this should not hold them back from doing what they want. If they want to be a teacher, lawyer, doctor, or even artist, they can do this, no matter who they are or where they are from. They can accept who they are and live their life to the fullest by fulfilling their dreams. This story teaches an adult concept to children in a creative way by using the bear. According to John Morgenstern, many writers believe that children are simple-minded and that they cannot understand adult concepts. He says, "It is interesting to observe that children's literature is constructed on the 'pretence' that children have no body/language" (114). In this article, "Children and Other Talking Animals," Morgenstern tries to clear up his myth. He states, "I have necessarily devised a definition of the simple that insists upon the existence of the child as something more than its cultural representation" (Morgenstern, 110). It is important that people realize that children do have minds of their own, and McPhail shows that he does realize this by writing a children's story, which contains "grown up" concepts. David McPhail's book, Drawing Lessons From a Bear, teaches a valuable lesson to children and even adults. Race, gender, religion, and background are things that cannot be changed, but no matter what these things may be, one can still carry out their dreams and fulfill their ambitions. One should never let who they are affect what they want to be.

A young bear's claw marks on the floor leads to drawing lessons and dreams of becoming an artist in this gentle story of a bear's evolving artistic talents, from cubhood through school to adulthood. Kids with simple reading skills will find this an encouraging tale of accomplishment.

A child loses his teddy; it is found by a park derelict; who meets and becomes friends with the boy despite the obvious discomfort of the boy's parents. BZZZTTT!!! David McPhail picked the wrong year to write a book about warm, fuzzy homeless people. Why didn't he make the other character a poor child, or a lonely soldier on station far from home, or something like that? In this year of appalling, highly-publicized child abductions, the lesson couldn't be any clearer: children should be instructed to view street people as dangerous until proven otherwise. If McPhail wants to join the ranks of those who make mascots of these people, that's his business. But it is the height of irresponsibility to teach unsuspecting children to do the same.

This book is wonderful. The boy loses his teddy bear and a homeless man finds it. I have used this book to try to explain to my son that there are alot of people who have nothing. He is starting to understand that the boy gave up the bear to the homeless man at the end because the boy realized he had so much more than the man. Now my son wants to give his bear to someone who has less.

After reading THE TEDDY BEAR aloud to groups of second graders, I felt compelled to share this wonderful book with others. It's a heartwarming tale of friendship and compassion that children can easily relate to. It brought tears to many eyes. Children and adults will both benefit from reading this book. David McPhail's illustrations are brilliant.

The content of the book is not so special nor attractive. But it is still a good book for toddlers to read.

I purchased "And the Bath" book along with three other "A Bug, A Bear and A Boy" books at a school book sale. I thought that they would be good to read to my infant son.

Well, to say the least he loves them. I don't even have to show him the book. I can just say "A Bug, A Bear and A Boy" and his eyes light up.

They teach sequencing, opposites, problem solving, and the difference between humans, insects and animals. They're great! I want to buy some more!

My twin boys (22 months) continue to laugh hysterically at this book and somehow I haven't gotten tired of it yet. Wonderful illustrations with a very nice close. A bit of cartoonish violence(bears on bicycles running into mailmen) might put it in the not-for-everybody category, though.

This is a great beginning book. Ny first grader really enjoyed it. He was able to manage most of the words in the book, yet it was not too easy. He thought it was funny and enjoyed predicting what the bear would do next. He summed it up at the end by saying "this book was really cool!"

This book was a big help when I tried to see how much my collection is worth. Some of it was a little hard to follow though. Some teddies look like their in hte wrong place and some of the picturs are small and fuzzy.

I first read this several years ago, and while some of the technical info has surely changed, his basic comments about computers and how to use them remain very sound. It's written with dry wit, highly quotable, but lays out how-to's and whys for the beginner in a way that has appealed to many to whom I've shown the book. This isn't for the highly technical, although they will find it funny. It's for the bright going into a new technical world. Interesting illustrations.

I just finished reading this book to a 4th grade class @ Cape St Clair Elem. school in Annapolis. Md. It was "Guest Reader Day", and it was chosen by the Media Specialist for me to read. I had so much fun reading it, that I will now search for a copy to add to my child's library. It's alot of fun to annimate, and the children laughed many times, especially as more, and MORE bears kept showing up. An adorable book for ALL kids.

This book is a facsinating collection of bear stories in Upper Michigan. I found several of the stories to be quite humurous, while others were rather scary. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has lived in Upper Michigan or has lived in close proximity with bears.

I just purchased this book/tape for my library/classroom and luckily previewed it and didn't just assume that is was harmless. I can't let my students hear and sing-a-long with this due to the use of the word "hell" in the tape.

Great childrens book. Illistrations keep my 2 year old focused and she loves the song. Over all a winner.

I listen to the audio casette with my children (ages 2 and 4) regularly. They absolutley love to dance around and ask to me play it over and over. They can completely relate the song to the story and we have shared many hours of pleasure from both. Maybe I'm a more liberal mom, but my kids are happy, good natured and love life. They have never noticed and could care less about the word hell. Am I crazy or what?