Lynd Ward (1905–1985)

Written in 1952, this black and white book won an Caldecott Medal. The story of a young boy who found a baby bear. His family live on a farm. Usually each farm has a bear fur tacked on the barn. Johnny's house is different in that it does not have a bear skin.

When he tries to find a home far away from their house, the bear is attached to Johnny and always returns. On the final time when he knows he has to take the bear far, far away, the bear and the boy became trapped inside a large wooden facility. Men found them and explained that the bear will be taken to a zoo in the city and will be well taken care of.

Johnny knows his bear loves maple sugar, and he promises the bear that he will visit him and bring lots of maple sugar.… (more)

three stars for the lovely illustrations but otherwise, this Caledcott winner from 1952 is a depressing story that I would never recommend to kids. This story would never be published today. An excellent illustration of how times change. Young Johnny sets out to shoot a bear, as it is embarrassing that his farm is the only one in town without a bearskin tacked up on the wall of the barn. He finds a baby bear and ends up making it a pet, which you would think (being a children's book), would be a charming and happy thing - maybe talking about the importance of loving animals and being gentle. Instead, the townsfolks want Johnny to get rid of the bear, so he sets out to return the bear to the woods and in the process, the bear gets captured to be put on display at a zoo.

Absolutely depressing.

Nice illustrations.… (more)