A black bear makes his annual autumn appearance on the hill above a small farm in this picture-book from author/illustrator Jim Arnosky, taking in all the sights, watching all of the other animals, and waiting for the right time to withdraw into a cave for his winter hibernation...

Like so many of Arnosky's other picture-books in this vein, from Rabbits & Raindrops to Watching Foxes, the text here is very basic - just a short phrase or sentence per page - and is paired with beautiful watercolor illustrations. These stories are meant to provoke wonder in the young child, at the beauty of nature, and they are informational, but only in the most basic sense. I would recommend this one to very young animal lovers, as a general story about a bear in the autumn. Perhaps it could be paired with a book that gives more specifics about hibernation. ( )

I both liked and disliked this book for two reasons. I liked that the illustrations take up two whole pages at a time, and that they seem to be painted using watercolor paints. They bring life to the story, and provide guidance for students who may struggle with reading and rely on clues from the images. One image that I liked in particular was the one in which the bear was walking through the forest and the other animals were waiting for him to pass. On the other hand, I disliked that this story was overall pretty dull. The story was basically just a list of what black bears do, like "He drinks cold water from the spring and climbs a straight, tall tree." There is no plot or story line, which I feel made the book very plain. The big point of the story to inform readers about the different things that black bears do. ( )

Book is about a bear that comes to this one area in the forest every autumn for the winter. It describes things of what a real bear might do.

This is a beautifully illustrated non fiction book. For every two pages there is only one sentence that is explaining the hibernation pattern of a bear. The pictures are vividly describing the minimal text that the author has offered to give us. This book would be excellent for an early on beginner reader.

I truly relish Jim Arnosky's story-like information books, and Every Autumn Comes the Bear was just as enjoyable as the others I have read. Arnosky tells all about what a bear does between autumn and winter as the time approaches for a bear to enter hibernation until the spring, sometimes giving us the perspective of the bear himself. The illustrations are detailed and even a bit scary, but I believe that is because Arnosky wishes to convey the idea that bears are not the cute, cuddly little creatures that young children are often led to believe, and that if provoked, can be extremely dangerous. All in all, this would make an excellent book for both young and older readers, as the fourth grade boys who are in my class enjoyed it quite thoroughly. It could be used to supplement an informational unit on bears, mammals, or to read aloud to a class during the autumn. ( )