A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO BEAR SPOTTING by Michelle Robinson. Illus. by David Roberts.  New York:  Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2016. 32p.  ISBN 9781681190266 hc. $16.99  Gr. K-3  E PIC

In the unlikely event that readers might be taking a walk in bear country, the young narrator coaches us about the dangerous brown bear and the dangerous black bear and what to do if you meet one on your walk. After backing up slowly from a black bear and playing dead for a brown bear, our narrator decides to use pepper spray and finally, bubble gum.  She throws in a few scientific facts along with her ridiculous and creative advice, and makes it out of the forest in one piece.  The illustrations enhance the text with some silliness between the cartoon-like narrator and the very furry bears.  The pencil drawings on graph paper lead readers to think the story could be based on field notes from a memo book, but it turns into pure fun by the end of the tale.  
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI