Concept and photographs by Amy Shapira, text by Douglas H. Chadwick,
Growing Up Grizzly: The True Story of Baylee and Her Cubs
FalconGuide/The Globe Pequot Press, 2007.

Ages 4-8

Nature photographer Amy Shapira and biologist and author Douglas Chadwick have given us a true and truly charming coming of age story with a slight twist.  Growing Up Grizzly is, of course, about the coming of age of a grizzly bear.

Emmet, so named by grizzly researchers who first observed him in Alaska, is a reluctant young adult bear.  When Emmet wanders into a small cove by a lake in Alaska, the researchers think he looks lost and forlorn.  They wonder if he is unready to take care of himself, though he is clearly at least two years old, the age grizzlies usually strike out on their own.

When an adult female grizzly called Baylee shows up at the cove with three cubs, Emmet follows the family wherever they go.  At first Baylee treats Emmet in the same way that any mother would treat a stranger who comes a little too close to her family - with extreme caution.  She even growls at him.  One day, Baylee briefly leaves the cubs unsupervised and Emmet seizes the opportunity to make friends with the cubs. Eventually, Baylee softens and accepts Emmet's company after all: to the extent that she even begins to treat him as her own son, hunting and fishing for him.  The five go on to spend two more years together, until Baylee's biological offspring themselves come of age and separate from their mother.

Growing Up Grizzly is an exceptional children's book.  The captivating photographs that so aptly illustrate this true story were selected from the many thousands taken by Shapira while observing the bears in the wild.  It's hard to reconcile these images with the grizzly's fierce reputation.  In one, a cub looks adoringly up at his mother; in another, Baylee seems to be smiling at her children.  Endearing photos of Emmet looking on at the family really do suggest his longing for family and his outsider status.  Chadwick has also done a fine job on the text, turning an interesting field study into an entertaining story that will delight young children and warm parents' hearts.  This book may be of special interest to families of adopted children, who will be reassured by this story of acceptance.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of Growing Up Grizzly will be donated to Vital Ground, an organization working to protect grizzly habitats in North America.