Search for the Golden Moon Bear

( 2 )

Overview

Join Sy Montgomery as she travels far and wide in search of the golden moon bear. Along with her research companions, she delves deep into the jungles of the Elephant Mountains, visits the bustling streets of Cambodian cities, explores remote villages, and attends a Club Med for bears in Thailand—all while carrying marshmallows and tweezers for her encounters with the bears along the way.
The quest for the golden moon bear takes us on an exhilarating journey and chronicles the ...

See more details below
Hardcover
$15.30
BN.com price
(Save 10%)$17.00 List Price
Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (14) from $1.99   
  • New (9) from $9.52   
  • Used (5) from $1.99   
Note: Kids' Club Eligible. See More Details.
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Overview

Join Sy Montgomery as she travels far and wide in search of the golden moon bear. Along with her research companions, she delves deep into the jungles of the Elephant Mountains, visits the bustling streets of Cambodian cities, explores remote villages, and attends a Club Med for bears in Thailand—all while carrying marshmallows and tweezers for her encounters with the bears along the way.
The quest for the golden moon bear takes us on an exhilarating journey and chronicles the detective work and science behind tracking a new species in a different part of the world, where bears are kept as pets and where sometimes things aren’t quite what they seem . . .

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
This attractive and informative offering is an intelligent reportage of science as it happens.
School Library Journal, Starred

Laced with captivating color photos and capped with an array of facts and resources about bears of all sorts, this pared-down version of the adult title should be irresistible to bear lovers and budding naturalists alike.
Kirkus Reviews

This is a natural...for young environmentalists and animal lovers, as well as readers who just like a good science mystery.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Children's Literature
There is the possibility a new species of bear might be added to the known eight species when the author and Dr. Gary Galbreath travel to Khmer Rouge country in Cambodia, and other spots in Asia, to study the Golden Bear. As in her other books, Sy Montgomery includes dense information on the people, the places, and the science of discovery. For instance, she tells how she took marshmallows and sweetened condensed milk along to keep the attention of a caged bear while she plucked a few hairs for DNA sampling. Pictures support the wide-ranging text, some maddeningly uncaptioned, and show details of the expedition, the beautiful temple architecture, various exotic and some hitherto unknown species from the area, and the people who helped the scientific expedition. Back at the lab for bear DNA, at the University of Idaho, the hairs are analyzed and while the scientists are in for a disappointment, they are excited about what else they have suddenly discovered. With a sort of "you are there" account, this book draws readers into discovery, the personalities and qualities that make a scientist, and another part of the world. In a display with the "Scientists in the Field" series, this title would suggest to upper-elementary and middle-school readers that there are plenty of ways in science to find what you love and then make it your life's work. 2004, Houghton Mifflin, Ages 10 to 14.
—Susan Hepler, Ph.D.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-9-While on an expedition to the Amazon, a fellow scientist told Montgomery about a bear seen years before in Yunnan, China-a bear with tall round ears, a white crescent on its chest, a bushy mane, and a coat as golden as a palomino. Later, a chance meeting with a young Cambodian unearthed a recent photo of a golden bear. From these encounters a scientific expedition to Southeast Asia evolved, seeking to determine if this honey-colored creature was a new species or a previously unseen color variation of Ursus thibetanus. Montgomery's conversational text takes readers to open-air markets and fruit farms in Cambodia, a wildlife breeding center and a zoo in Thailand, and hillside tribal villages in Laos (with a hefty interlude of tropical rain forest investigation), seeking the elusive animal. Whenever possible, the team obtained hair samples from specimens for DNA analysis, hoping for mitochondrial confirmation of the golden bear's place in the evolutionary tree, and possible links to the migration route of the earliest moon bears. The exciting narrative is complemented by an array of full-color photos and "data pages" on such topics as DNA decoding and mammals recently discovered in Southeast Asia. Appendixes include global bear statistics and addresses and Web sites for further information. This attractive and informative offering is an intelligent reportage of science as it happens-from the conception of an idea to authoritative analysis in a specialized lab-and lets readers see that the "end" of an investigation holds within itself the nucleus of a new idea.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
With characteristic verve, the author of The Tarantula Scientist(p. 182) reports on an expedition into Laos and Thailand, trailing an elusive new kind of bear-related to the indigenous Moon Bear, but with spectacular golden coloring. Along the way, she offers readers a gallery of other animals unknown to science that have been recently discovered in Southeast Asia. She offers an eye-opening account of how the work is done-not by plunging off into the trackless wild, but by combing local markets, zoos, and animal-rescue centers to gather hair samples of caged creatures for DNA analysis by a lab in Idaho. It's also a quick but heartrending glimpse of the area's violent recent history. Laced with captivating color photos and capped with an array of facts and resources about bears of all sorts, this pared-down version of the adult title should be irresistible to bear lovers and budding naturalists alike. (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780618356508
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  • Publication date: 11/28/2004
  • Pages: 80
  • Sales rank: 1,379,009
  • Age range: 9 - 11 Years
  • Product dimensions: 9.00 (w) x 10.75 (h) x 0.25 (d)

Meet the Author

Sy Montgomery

Sy Montgomery is an author, naturalist, newspaper columnist, scriptwriter, and radio commentator who writes award-winning books for children as well as adults. She lives in Hancock, New Hampshire. Visit her website at symontgomery.com.

Sy Montgomery and photographer Nic Bishop won the Sibert Medal in 2011 for their collaborative work on Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot , another Scientist in the Field title.

Good To Know

In our exclusive interview with Montgomery, she revealed a few fun anecdotes:

"My companion pig, Christopher Hogwood, age 12, lost 60 pounds on his new diet and now weighs in at a trim 690 pounds."

"My first known act of Eco-Conscience: I was sent home from kindergarten for biting a little boy who had pulled the legs off a daddy longlegs. I would do it again today."

Read More Show Less
    1. Hometown:
      Hancock, New Hampshire
    1. Date of Birth:
      February 7, 1958
    2. Place of Birth:
      Frankfurt, Germany
    1. Education:
      Syracuse University: B.A., Newhouse School of Public Communications, 1979; B.A., College of Arts and Sciences, 1979

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 2 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(2)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)