The Grizzly Mother

"The Grizzly Mother," by Gyetxw Hetxw'ms (Brett D. Huson) is a beautifully illustrated, educational children's book that teaches children about Grizzly bears and the integral part they play with the Gitxsan people of Northwestern British Columbia, an indigenous people. From coming out of hibernation into catching their own salmon in their favorite fishing holes, the author takes children through the development from cubs to full-grown of a grizzly bear.

The story has "big word" for children with a definition as well as maps of the area that the book is from. Also, there is a short summary at the end of the book about the Gitxsan Nation of British Columbia in Canada.

This is a wonderful book for both young children who might only "understand" the beautifully illustrated pictures, to older children interested in animals, science and geography. There was a lot of good information that holds the readers interest all throughout. Great book!

I received this as an eBook from Portage & Main Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the title. I did not receive any compensation from either company. The opinions expressed herein are completely my own.

A gorgeously illustrated book for all ages on the lives of grizzly bears in British Columbia.

From the renderings of the bears to the color palette, the artwork in this book is first rate.

I love that the author used “ten-dollar words” in the text and then added the definitions instead of oversimplifying the vocabulary in order to make the book workable for the youngest possible audience. This way, it can be enjoyed by both very young and older children.

What a beautifully illustrated book! This books follows a grizzly mother bear with her two cubs from hibernation to the next season's hibernation. It teaches children about different aspects of the grizzly bear's life in different seasons and their interactions with the Gitxsan community.

I love how it has definitions of words that children might not know (e.g. metabolism).

I think more information about the geographical locality and the Gitxsan would make this book so much more accessible to children more globally. Afterall, who wouldn't want to learn about grizzly bears?

Lovely book. My son loved me reading it to him. The targeted audience. It was easy to read and well written

This non-fiction, own-voices picture book features amazing pictures and interesting details about a grizzly bear's raising of two young bears, and the Gitxsan people that live near the Skeena and Bulkley rivers in Northern British Columbia, Canada. I really love this book and The Sockeye Mother, an earlier book from this team. Great information, including the correct use of the phrase torpor (instead of hibernation, which is something that is incorrect and a little maddening once you know this) and definitions of more complex language right next to the text, where the reader can use it, means this series is a great package for young readers to learn about nature and Indigenous culture. I hope there are more of these books to come!

I read this book with my 7 year old, who loves learning about our local Aboriginal culture. The book did a wonderful job of sharing the Gitxsan language and culture along with the story of a grizzly and her 2 cubs as they move through the seasons. The illustrations are beautiful, incorporating traditional artwork and peaceful colours. The interesting facts and vocabulary sprinkled throughout add dimension and interest to the book, as does the tracing of the seasons using traditional Gitxsan references to the phases of the moon. Of course I love that it is centered in our province and that my daughter and I were able to look at the map and talk about our local landscape and the many important natural features (rivers, the salmon, the forests). We also discussed some of the different First Nations in our province and talked about their languages and cultures (we live in the heart of syilx or Okanagan territory).

A must-have for elementary classrooms and libraries in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.