Saving Yasha: The Incredible True Story of an Adopted Moon Bear (National Geographic Kids)

Kvatum tells the story of an orphaned moon bear, rescued in the Russian forest by Pokrovskaya and a fellow scientist, and its rehabilitation in a wilderness refuge. Pokrovskaya and her colleague introduce Yasha to other orphaned cubs, and they "became a family." Photographs show the bears playing in water, hanging from trees, and Pokrovskaya quietly observing Yasha ("The scientists were always kind and gentle, but they wore special clothing to cover their smell and never talked or played with the cubs. They wanted to make sure the cubs would grow up to live as wild bears"). The vibrant photographs provide a rare glimpse of a unique species. Ages 4-up. (July)

K-Gr 2--Yasha was rescued by scientists after hunters killed his mother and is being raised in the Durminskoe Game Preserve in Russia to remain a wild creature. Full-page, full-color photographs show the distinctive white fur necklace, long tongue, and claws of the young bear. Two other orphaned cubs were taken to live with Yasha, and they bond to form a "family" that lasts beyond their winter hibernation. Only slightly marred by some fictionalizing, e.g., Yasha cried and felt happy and proud after he escaped from a tiger by scrambling up a tree, this is a lovely introduction to Asiatic black bears. The book doesn't have as much factual information as Brenda Z. Guiberson's Moon Bear (Holt, 2010), but it includes an informative range map, a fact list (weighing less than a pound when born, an adult moon bear can weigh more than 400 pounds), a one-page project description, and a list of zoos and sanctuaries where one can see moon bears. This warm accounting of a lifesaving partnership between animals and humans will be a popular addition for browsing.--Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA