The Green Bear Stories

Book excerpt: About the Author Joe Knotts has lived in Oregon most of his life. He loves hiking, camping, backpacking, swimming and boating with friends. On a number of occasions he has had the privilege of observing black bear cubs, mother bear, and even a solitary father bear. He has camped in areas where enterprising black bear have managed to access food supplies hung high on ropes between two trees and watched as other bear have successfully opened coolers with ease. Joe's grandfather - known as "Uncle Joe" - originally made up the Green Bear Stories telling them to his camping buddies and grandchildren as stories with moral truths. "Uncle Joe" made every effort to involve his listeners in the stories by asking questions along the way. He would then weave their answers into his stories. Joe has taken those original stories, added a bit of real bear fact, tossed them about, told them, re-told them, and truthfully enjoyed mixing fact with fantasy. Joe and his daughter, Tessa, who at the age of seven drew a number of pencil illustrations for the first edition, still live in Oregon. About the Book A " Read With Your Child Book" A young black bear cub grows rapidly into an adult without realizing it. The changes happen so fast he hardly has time to process the decisions he makes along the way or the forces shaping his life. Life moves quickly from being taught by Mother Bear how to survive, to doing the tasks to please his mother, to adventuring off to prove himself. Finally, he is officially "kicked out" of his family when he tries to go back. What are the choices along the way? What is home? What is family? Sometimes what appears to be bad is good and what appears to be good is bad. Who is to sort that out? Told in easy to read, fast action episodes, some hilarious, some educational, some pure fantasy, would the reader make similar or different choices than Green Bear? Great stories to read to your child to help stimulate conversation between you. About the Illustrator Native Oregonian Jessie Street is a mixed media artist. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Art and Master of Arts in Teaching from Eastern Oregon University. Teaching children to make art is her passion and could hardly be considered "work." Her artwork has been shown and recognized in several galleries throughout Eastern Oregon, as well as in three issues of Oregon East Magazine.