Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 6 to 8
- Grade: 1 to 3
- Reading age: 6 to 8
Black bears, grizzly bears, and spirit bears all make their home in the Great Bear Rainforest.
A Bear's Life uses Ian McAllister's stunning photographs to follow these beautiful animals through a year in the British Columbia wilderness—catching fish, eating berries, climbing trees and taking long naps.
A Bear's Life is the second in the My Great Bear Rainforest series.
About the authors
Ian McAllister is a co-founder of the wildlife conservation organization Pacific Wild. He is an award-winning photographer and author of The Great Bear Rainforest, and his images have appeared in publications around the world. He has been honoured by the Globe & Mail as one of 133 highly accomplished Canadians, and he and his wife, Karen McAllister, were named by Time magazine one of the ""Leaders of the 21st Century"" for their efforts to protect British Columbia's endangered rainforest. He is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers and has won the North America Nature Photography Association's Vision Award and the Rainforest Action Network's Rainforest Hero award. He lives with his family on an island in the heart of The Great Bear Rainforest.
Nicholas Read is a journalism instructor at Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He collaborated with Ian McAllister on several books, including Wolf Island, A Bear's Life, The Seal Garden and The Great Bear Sea and wrote City Critters, about urban wildlife. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Heather Gould is an entrepreneur, artist and voice actor from Victoria, British Columbia.
- Short-listed, Silver Birch Award Express
- Commended, Resource Links The Year's Best
"This is a beautiful, fact-filled book that should enchant the reader."
Youth Services Book Review
"Extensively photo illustrated by McAllister, images range from stunning landscape portraits to impressive action shots to playful photos of a cub lounging in the grass…this stuns."
"We have talked about the Great Bear Rainforest in other posts, all by this talented and impressive pair whose glorious nature photography and impeccable research have given us other books to admire and inspire. Following Wolf Island, this second picture book is perfect for younger readers."
Sal's Fiction Addiction blog
The Horn Book Online
"This well-designed companion to Wolf Island features McAllister's exquisite photographs of black bears, grizzlies, and rare spirit bears…It's a captivating and intimately photographed look at the lives of wild bears."
"A Bear's Life is highly recommended for school and public libraries for study units and for story times. This book would enhance study units on bears, ecological systems, rainforests, indigenous mythology, the Raven, and photography. Both books in My Great Bear Rainforest Series further understanding of the beauty and importance of the Great Bear Rainforest and by extension all forests and their inhabitants."
"The incredible close-up photos lead the reader from spring to fall in the rainforest as the easy-to-read text introduces each unique and special aspect of the bears' home...Impressive presentation. The writing style is especially inviting to younger readers...Hopefully this author-photographer duo still have more to offer all ages about British Columbia's endangered rainforest as a way to encourage conservation efforts. Highly Recommended."
"Visually spectacular, Wolf Island and A Bear's Life work best as a pair, showing how different types of animals navigate the vast and ancient rainforest in both different and similar ways. Read together, these books—and undoubtedly any others that will be added to the series in the future—provide opportunities for readers to compare and contrast the habits, homes and personalities of some of their favourite animals in a highly engaging and informative way. Full of universal themes the books in the My Great Bear Rainforest series will delight readers of all interests and abilities. "
Canadian Children's Book News
"The heart of this album is [McAllister's] photography: two beautiful landscapes showing the pristine Great Bear Rainforest bookend many, many close-ups of bears…An appropriate companion to Wolf Island to nourish the sense of wonder."
"Read emphasizes how much time it takes for cubs to learn survival skills from their mom and the importance of a balanced ecosystem…McAllister's close-up images of the creatures and the forest radiate with energy and atmosphere, in part because of the clean layout, which lets them shine…A title sure to be enjoyed over and over again. An easy pick for nonfiction animal collections."
School Library Journal
Other titles by Ian McAllister
My Great Bear Rainforest Bundle
Babies of the Great Bear Rainforest Read-Along
Babies of the Great Bear Rainforest
Great Bear Rainforest
A Giant-Screen Adventure in the Land of the Spirit Bear
A Whale's World Read-Along
A Whale's World
The Seal Garden
The Seal Garden Read-Along
Wolf Island Read-Along
A Bear's Life
Other titles by Nicholas Read
Other titles by Heather Gould
My Head in the Clouds Read-Along
Under Our Clothes Read-Along
Our First Talk About Our Bodies