Baby Bears Adoption

One winter day, Braden and Finley hike into the woods with their wildlife scientist dad and his team to tag a mamma bear who just had cubs. The tag makes it easy to find the mamma bear in the summer when the team gets a call about an orphaned bear cub that needs a new family. But will the mama bear adopt this new cub as one of her own? The story is based on orphaned black bear cub rescue efforts by Michigan DNR.

This fictional story based on true events includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 39-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.

Written by Jennifer Keats Curtis, Illustrated by Veronica V. Jones
32 pg, 8x10, Ages 4-9, Grades PK-3, Lexile: 640, F&P: O

Reviews:

Baby Bear's Adoption is a beautiful story about survival, risk, and caring for others. This story provides a beautiful scientific understanding of how biologist risk their lives to save animals in the wild. It provides and sense of understanding and appreciation for how and why biologists work together to save orphaned bear cubs and keep track of bear families
—Amy Siracusano, Literacy Integration Learning Specialist

My class and I just finished reading Baby Bear’s Adoption and the realistic fiction “comes to life† in this story. After reading it to my 2nd grade class they learned so much about bears and they remembered the facts.
—Debra, second grade teacher

This real-life program is presented fictionally, through the point of view of a presumably adopted child. A boy named Braden narrates as he and his sister, Finley, accompany their father in his work as a wildlife biologist with this program. First they collar a mother bear so they can track and find her if and when they find an orphaned cub. Braden and Finley hold her cubs while their father and other adults collar her. When an orphaned cub is located later, they accompany their father again to track the sow and trick her into accepting the baby as her own.
-Kirkus Reviews

Author/Illustrator Info:

Award-winning Jennifer Keats Curtis has penned numerous stories about animals, including Creek Critters, Kali's Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue (Children's Choice Book Award Winner) and After A While Crocodile: Alexa’s Diary (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children), with co-author Dr. Brady Barr of Nat Geo Wild's Dangerous Encounter, Baby Bear's Adoption with wildlife biologists at Michigan's DNR, River Rescue with Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc.; and Moonlight Crab Count with co-author Dr. Neeti Bathala. The long-time writer's other recent books include The Lizard Lady, with co-author Dr. Nicole Angeli, Maggie: Alaska's Last Elephant and the Animal Helpers series. When not writing, Jennifer can be found among students and teachers, talking about literacy and conservation.

Veronica V. Jones is a freelance and children's illustrator from the Northern Virginia area. After graduating from the Catholic University of America with a degree in engineering, she decided to follow her first love, art; and started her career as a freelance illustrator. Veronica started drawing for children in 2010 and has created many covers and interiors since then. Moonlight Crab Count is her debut picture book. Visit her website at www.vvjones.com.