From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-In the northern Rocky Mountains, biologist Carrie Hunt works with Karelian bear dogs to shepherd bears away from human contact and offer an alternative to relocation or destroying the animals. This attractive photo-essay shows the dogs of Hunt's Partners in Life organization frightening a mother bear and cubs from a busy roadside in Glacier National Park and from a town where animals are breaking into people's homes for food. When not working, the dogs are in schools teaching children about proper bear safety. The final page includes tips on "How to Keep a Good Bear Good." Readers can imagine the excitement and noise involved in this humane approach to ursine preservation. Sharp, large-format color pictures of the handsome, intelligent, and loving canines with a paragraph of text per picture will be irresistible to dog and bear lovers alike.Jean Gaffney, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, Miamisburg, OH Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. This entry into the Canines with a Mission series introduces Karelian bear dogs. The dogs, originally from Finland, were once bear hunters. Now, Carrie Hunt uses them to keep grizzly and black bears out of trouble. Many bears today are comfortable with humans, in settings as diverse as backyards and national parks, but they have become a danger to people and to themselves; bears that destroy property are often put down. Hunt, a bear biologist, has trained her team to frighten bears by barking at them and chasing them. Since 1995, her dogs have tackled "bear emergencies" throughout the western U.S. The text of this photo-essay is sometimes wordy, but the color photographs are intriguing; troublesome bears and clever, appealing dogs are a winning combination. The book concludes with tips for keeping a "good bear good." There's also advice about setting up campsites and what to do if confronted by a bear. A fresh subject for report writers or browsers. Ilene Cooper
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FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature

Carrie Hunt is a bear biologist with a heartwarming mission. In 1995 she started the Wind River Bear Institute and the Partners in Life program, training Kalelian bear dogs, husky-like dogs from Finland, to handle bear emergencies of a special kind all over the west. She did this by training the dogs to approach bears that were loitering around roadsides, campgrounds and other places they might be likely to come in contact with people. The dogs bark and aggressively chase the bears, repeatedly if necessary, until the bears learn to no longer approach these places, and thereby stay safe in the woods. Carrie and her dogs are on call from their base in Whitefish, Montana and travel as far as Alaska¾wherever they are needed to train bears in new habits that save bear lives and humans as well. The author, Ted Wood, is an experienced photo essayist who has written about a wide range of fascinating topics, all with heart. Adults and older children alike will come away with a better understanding of how we need to live in peace and harmony with nature. Here is an example of how one biologist and one photographer are doing just that. 2001, Walker Publishing, $17.85 and $16.95. Ages 9 up. Reviewer: Kathleen Orosz

School Library Journal