Honey Paw and Lightfoot

by Jonathan London, Jon Van Zyle (Illustrator)

Overview

In Honey Paw and Lightfoot, readers are given a firsthand, compelling glimpse of grizzly bears. Illuminated by Jonathan’s London spare, lyrical text and Jon Van Zyle’s spectacular illustrations, this is the story of mama bear Honey Paw and her offspring Lightfoot, from his earliest days as a newborn, no bigger than a hamster, to curious cub to adolescent bear ready to head off on his own. And tor readers who want to learn more, there is an afterword providing detailed information about grizzly bears including their relationship to indigenous cultures of the north and threats to their survival.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941821107
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	09/01/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD670L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jonathan London has written more than one hundred picture books for children, many of them about wildlife, including Eyes of Gray Wolf, The Seasons of Little Wolf, Little Puffin's First Flight, and Pup the Sea Otter. He has sold more than 1.5 million books and is known in particular for his Froggy series. He lives with his wife in northern California.

Alaskan Jon Van Zyle has been the official artist of the Iditarod for nearly thirty years. Over a long and distinguished career, Van Zyle has painted the illustrations for many books, including Little Puffin's First Flight, The Seasons of Little Wolf, Iditarod Adventures, Eyes of Gray Wolf, and Douggie. Jon and his wife, Jona, also an artist, live near Eagle River, Alaska, where they raise and train Siberian Huskies.

Read an Excerpt

If Lightfoot strayed, Honey Paw swatted him back into line.
But not all was the business of finding food; mother and cub liked to play.

Swoosh! Honey Paw and Lightfoot plunged down the slopes skidding to a stop in a shower of slush.
Again and again¬—swoosh!—sliding on belly,
back, and rump, rolling head over tail.

Editorial Reviews

The author and artist who produced The Eyes of Gray Wolf here poetically and artistically portray a grizzly's birth and coming of age. Borrowing nicknames given to brown bears by native peoples of Eurasia, London's narrative reflects a time-honored awe of the powerful creatures. When Honey Paw meets Old Man of the Mountains, "It was June, the mating moon of grizzlies,/ and that night, under stars,/ the two great bears/ became a pair." Soon after they part company, Honey Paw gives birth to Lightfoot, "a furry ball of hunger" whose adventures fill the rest of the tale. Bear fur, spring slush, river falls-Van Zyle's painterly illustrations capture these textures in full-bleed spreads somewhat reminiscent of Ted Rand's work. Similarly, the rhythms of London's carefully structured verse create simple yet affecting images of the natural world. An eloquent and informative endnote decries the threat of extinction of Ursus arctos. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The story follows Honey Paw, an adult female grizzly, from mating (they "became a pair" ) through the birth and first year of her cub, Lightfoot. An endnote fills in some facts about grizzlies around the world, but young readers will be drawn more to the combination of learning and fun captured in the story of the mother and cub than to the information. The striking double-page-spread pictures insist children see the world in which the bears live: the water, land, and sky are as important as the fur coats and expressive faces of the animals. And, the book's implicit plea for wilderness preservation is eloquent.

Mary Harris Veeder

The author and artist...poetically and artistically portray a grizzly's birth and coming of age. Publishers Weekly

...young readers will be drawn...to the combination of learning and fun...The book's implicit plea for wilderness preservation is eloquent. Booklist

From the Publisher