Annotation A zookeeper's extraordinary relationship with the bears she has rehabilitated and her insights into their behavior and emotional lives. Few people know bears as intimately as Else Poulsen. She has raised bears, comforted bears, taught bears, learned from bears, had bears communicate their needs to her, and nursed bears back to health. This remarkable book reveals the many insights about bears and their lives that she has gained through her work with them. In the eighties, Poulsen became a zookeeper in Calgary, where she rehabilitated bears in crisis. She has shared in the joy of a polar bear discovering soil under her paws for the first time in twenty years, felt the pride of a cub learning to crack nuts with her molars, and grieved at the horror of captivity for Asian black bears in China. Smiling Bearsprovides an enlightening and moving portrait of bears in all their richness and complexity and of Poulsen's exhilarating work with them.

A playful story that incorporates classic fairy tale themes introduces young Ella, who insists that stories require magical fairies, beautiful princesses and even the occasional monster, but absolutely no bears.

This book is a compilation of trip reports written in the form of short stories detailing the adventures of Little Bear (Paul Gerard) with his father Papa Bear (Paul J.), the author of these tales. They take place every month of the year, over a period of twenty-two years from the time that Little Bear was fourteen until he was thirty-six years old. Usually, when Little Bear accompanied Papa Bear on his wanderings among the High Peaks, they were blessed by delightful downpours or immersed in ghostly, dripping mists and fog. Always, several unusual incidents occurred under such conditions and recording the event under the guise of a trip report became a rambling account, mixing facts with fantasy-like characters.

Polar bears are truly majestic animals: the largest land-dwelling carnivore on earth, these white-furred, black-skinned giants can measure up to three meters in length and weigh up to fifteen hundred pounds. They are also iconic in other ways. They are a symbol of the climate change debate, with their survival now threatened by the loss of Arctic ice, and their images decorate fountains and the cornices of buildings across the world. They sell cold drinks. They feature in children’s books, on merry-go-rounds, and under the arms of weary toddlers heading for bed. Their pelts were once highly prized by hunters, and live captures became attractions in zoos and circuses. Stuffed bears still haunt museums and stately homes. In this natural and cultural history of the polar bear, Margery Fee explores the evolution, species, habitat, and behavior of the animal, as well as its portrayal in art, literature, film, and advertising. Illustrated throughout, Polar Bear will beguile anyone who loves these outsize, beautiful, seemingly cuddly, yet deadly carnivores.

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The Daisy Chain is a three-part book.Part one is the story of Daisy Petty McIntyre, a courageous mother of four children. Widowed in 1912 in her early 30s, she was forced by circumstances to leave her cozy home in the Ozark Hills of Northwestern Arkansas, where she was surrounded by family and friends to wrest out a living in a large city where she knew few people.She soon learned that the many skills that served her well in the Ozarks had little financial value in earning a living for herself and her children in Kansas City. Daisy faced hardships and destitution, but she did it with great heart and fortitude, never letting her children see the fears and desolation she felt on an almost daily basis. Part two is the author's experiences growing up in the Great Depression years. Part three is a family genealogy.