The Book “A bear named Trouble” is one used by primary school students between grades four and five ranging around the age of 8 and higher. The book is about a ten-year-old boy who had a favorite animal “mama goose”. The ten-year-old boy later met a bear who was hungry; injured and lonely thus making him empathize with it. Later the bear mistakenly killed Mama Goose making the boy lose interest in him as well as the other fans of the goose. (Bauer, 2005)
The author of this book is Marion Dane Bauer who concentrates on the writing of children’s books. The title of the book is “A bear named trouble” and the publication date of this book is June 2005. The author of this book rated the book as being best appropriate to be read by children between the ages of eight and ten therefore a pointer that the book is best when used by grade five students who fall between this age group. (Bauer, 2005)
After the bear is seen as a nuisance to humans kills Mama Goose who was the major attraction for the children visiting the zoo, the bear is hated by every individual who was affiliated with the Goose including the ten-year-old Jonathan who goes through trouble living with the feelings of sadness. The position taken in this case is the importance of understanding the reasons underlying the overt actions and behavior, which portray in both humans and animals as an interpretation of one’s self-worth. The issue presented in the book that shows the importance of this is the understanding that Jonathan develops after taking time and evaluating the possible causes of the actions by the bear. (Bauer, 2005)
The evidence from the plot of the book that supports the position taken on understanding the underlying factors of behavior is the realization that the bear had killed the goose due to the feelings of guilt for being a bear. After he realized this he sacrificed to do anything to protect the bear from being killed. The characters that help bring out this issue in the story include Jonathan who had an informed understanding of wild animals and their instinctive behaviors. The zoo officials wanted to kill the bear as they considered it a nuisance to people and for killing the goose. Other characters that have helped build this position are the bear and the goose. The narration of the encounters of the goose and the killing of it helps build this position and perspective. (Bauer, 2005)
The purpose of the writer in authoring this book is trying to give a reflection of the dealings that take place between different people, in helping emphasize what it means to be living. The author implied purpose in writing this book, is based on reviewing the understanding of Runt an undersized wolf who is unable to please his father despite the encounters with his brothers and sisters. The undersized Runt as a result decides to withdraw from the others and wanders far where he lastly begins to understand his worth. (Shattuck, 2001)
The evidence of the author’s purpose in writing this book is depicted in the climax of the two settings that the writer is relating to; one being the case of Runt and the other the lonely, injured bear. In both cases, the climax is based on the issue of self-worth that results from guilt and feelings of inferiority. (Shattuck, 2001)
The cover of the book contains the name of the author written in a formal font type; the topic of the book written using scribbled writings; the phrase author of Runt; and the picture of a big brown bear. The book text is written in black large font writings to make it easier for children to read. (Shattuck, 2001)
The visual features of this book have a great implication that it’s a children’s book. To start with the playful topic of the heading; the big bear picture on the cover gives an idea that the book is talking about bears, and the large font used in writing the book gives an impression that the text is meant for the reading of children. (Shattuck, 2001)
This book, “A bear named Trouble” is a children’s book appropriate for use by children between the ages of 8 and 10 and is talking of the need for feelings of self-worth. According to the author, self-worth is important in the building of social relationships as evidenced in the story of the bear. Additionally, the visual properties of this book that include the cover, photos, and font used help promote the interpretation of the novel.
Reference
Bauer, M. (2005).A bear named Trouble. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Shattuck, R. (2001).The State of Literary Criticism. New York: WW Norton & Co Inc.