''The Biggest Bear'' is a children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

Lynd Ward Lynd Kendall Ward (June 26, 1905 – June 28, 1985) was an American artist and novelist, known for his series of wordless novels using wood engraving, and his illustrations for juvenile and adult books. His wordless novels have influenced ...

, first published in 1952. It was illustrated using

casein paint Casein paint, (or cassein) derived from milk casein (milk protein), is a fast-drying, water-soluble medium used by artists. Description It generally has a glue-like consistency, but can be thinned with water to the degree that fits a particular ar ...

, and won the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

for illustration in 1953.American Library Association
Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present
URL accessed 27 May 2009.

Background

''The Biggest Bear'' was the first children's picture book for which Ward was both author and illustrator. He rendered the illustrations in

. Ward set the story in the backwoods of

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...

, an area he was familiar with as his parents had taken him to Sault Ste. Marie when he was a boy so he could recover from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. Thereafter the family summered at a lake near Echo Bay, not far from the US–Canada border.

Plot

Johnny Orchard, a young boy, is jealous because his neighbors have bear pelts hanging on their

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Alle ...

s, so he takes a rifle and goes

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

for the biggest bear in the valley. However, when he finds only a male bear cub, he befriends him by feeding him maple sugar and brings the bear home as a

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

. As he grows, the bear becomes a nuisance to Johnny's family and the neighbors due to his enormous appetite. After the neighbors complain to his father, Johnny tries three times to return the bear to the woods. Each time the bear follows Johnny back home. Finally, Johnny and his father decide the only way to solve the problem is to shoot the bear. Johnny takes the bear far into the woods, but while loading his rifle, the bear runs off and into a live

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

that has maple sugar in it. Men who had set the trap to capture animals for the

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

soon come. They take Johnny's bear to a zoo where Johnny can visit him anytime he wants to.

Freudian analysis of this book

In ''

The Denial of Death ''The Denial of Death'' is a 1973 book by American cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker. The author builds on the works of Søren Kierkegaard, Sigmund Freud, Norman O. Brown, and Otto Rank to discuss the psychological and philosophical implicat ...

,''

Ernest Becker Ernest Becker (September 27, 1924 – March 6, 1974) was an American cultural anthropologist and author of the 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, '' The Denial of Death''. Biography Early life Ernest Becker was born in Springfield, Massachuset ...

cited ''The Biggest Bear'' as an example of how the innate human fear can become manifested in literature.Ernest Becker: The Denial of Death, 1973

References

Works cited

* * 1952 children's books Children's books about bears Caldecott Medal–winning works Houghton Mifflin books Children's books by Lynd Ward Children's books set in Ontario {{child-book-stub