This book was given to us as a gift and my six children(ages 2-13) were immediately captivated by its cover alone! This "loaded" books contains anything and everything you ever wanted to know about bears and brings them to life through beautiful and often breathtaking pictures. While this book is intended for the 9-12 year old crowd, I quickly discovered that all the children love it and glean what they are interested in from it at their various educational levels. Its easy-to-use format of short paragraphs, catchy headlines, and an index lends itself to self-exploration. As we homeschool our children, I quickly discovered that this book works out wonderfully as a complete science study of bears and would lend itself to doing a unit study incorporating other subjects. If you are a homeschooler, your family might enjoy turning to page 63 to discover how bears learn. I highly recommend this book and believe any reader will be just as delighted as we are with this book. My thanks goes to a loving aunt who thought of our family when she heard about this book...thanks for the gift, Aunt Jo!

Reviewed by Harry Reynolds, AK Dept of Fish and Game International Bear News, Feb 2001, p. 33

This book well fulfills its purpose to arouse the interest of readers, ages 9 to 16 years, about what makes bears unique. Based on very good questions about bear biology from young readers, it presents interesting and accurate information on each of the eight bear species. The questions, heavily illustrated with photos, are separated into eight subject groups: Great Bears, How Bears Live, The Bear's Body, the Bear's Senses, Eating Habits, Bear Reproduction, Self-Defense, and Bears and People.

In the Great Bears chapter, questions include: How many different kinds of bears are there? Which species is the largest and the smallest? How do scientists classify bears? The How Bears Live chapter, answers Where in the world do bears live? with text and a range map. Which bear is most common? is answered in numerical and distributional terms - the responses are designed to help students think critically. The Bears and People chapter dealt mostly with conservation and research. Its brief treatment of bear attacks was probably purposeful. However, because it is the most common fear of humans in bear country, it could have been more fully addressed.

The simple and straightforward questions are answered with enough detail to interest, not bore readers and provide a good understanding of bear biology and conservation issues. Most books like this suffer from inadequate or misinterpreted information - this one does not. This is an excellent book for youth, and most adults would learn from it as well.

Easy to read for the age group it is intended. But also informative for all ages. Most of us who have grown up playing with a "Teddy" want to know more, especially about the not so common bears. Good pictures and illustrations.

This book has some great photographs, but does not say enough about breeding. Maybe breeding is very simple. If so, the authors should say so. When I finished the book, I did not feel that I had learned much about breeding. It was kind of like leaving a restaurant without feeling full.

It has excellent photos and it covers most of the boas and pythons you may purchase but, if you already have the snakes and you are looking for information about breeding them this book doesn't help much. It has enough information to help you make up your mind if you still haven't decided on what species to buy for breeding.

THIS BOOK IS VERY GOOD FOR THE NEW SNAKE OWNER AND THE UNSURE. IT HAS USEFUL INFORMATION ON MANY DIFFRENT TYPES OF BOAS AND PYTHONS. THE BOOK DOES NOT USE "LARGE WORDS" THAT COULD CONFUSE READERS AND THOSE IT DOES THEY EXPLAIN THEM IN THE BACK. I WORK IN A PETSHOP AND THE BOOK IS REALLY CLOSE TO THE REAL THING. IT'S A GOOD BOOK FOR GETTING STARTED. IT ALSO HAS GREAT PICTURES.

I was expecting an intelligent, informed checklist with pertinent information about the region's reptile fauna. Instead it reads more like a children's book. Grainy outdated pics and a measly one or two lines of description about each animal. There are many more books on this subject that are more informed and thorough in their approach. Just my opinion though.

An especially useful guide for those who spend a lot of time in the outdoors and are located in the Southwestern USA. The book has color pictures, which makes it easier to identify the animals that are encountered. Also included are prevention tips when dealing with certain animals, and also some emergency methods for the possibily of a snake bite. Overall this is a very good book for identfying snakes, lizards and turtles of the southwest.