Member Reviews

I loved the wonderful photographs of these majestic animals. The is some informative text but the photographs are stars. Enjoy this beautiful book

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I love these animal focused books and bears are especially a favourite after seeing Polar Bears in the wild. It is a great collection of photos with short informative captions about bears. It's a great coffee table book or educational book for any animal lovers.
Thanks to Netgalley.com and Amber Books Ltd for my complimentary eARC copy.

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I call my children my cubs, as they call me mumma bear, so as soon as I saw this book available I knew I had to request it. Such a wonderful book full of facts, information and general wonderfulness on these beautiful creatures. I learned so much from this book, would definitely recommend!

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A lovely, well-put-together coffee table book on you guessed it- bears! There's lots of interesting information here, covering types of bears, habitats, families, and cubs, and so many gorgeous photographs. A real treat for any bear lover!

#Bears #NetGalley

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I loved this book. Bears are one of the most charismatic species on this planet and this book is chock full of them. There are photos of all the species of bears in their habitat. If you love bears, this is a book you should have.

The book is primarily composed of photos, some of them full page in size. All photos are in color. The images are spectacular and of the highest quality.

This book is not a field guide. It is a gallery of images with short snippets of text about the bears. The information is not exhaustive by any means, but it’s enough to get someone interested in learning more about bears.

I think it is suitable for all ages because a young reader can simply look at the photos, while an older reader can read the captions to them.

I absolutely recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn a little about bears, but mostly for those who want to see some super cute images of these fascinating creatures. My favorite section, of course, was the cubs. They are as adorable as you imagine them to be.

My only complaints seem minor given the overall quality of the book. As a biologist, I do feel I must mention these things though, for the sake of accuracy. There are a couple inaccuracies and old myths in the text.

For example:

On page 74, the text mentions that the bear pictured is braving the stings of bees to get at their nest. However, the nest shown is a bald-faced hornet nest. These are wasps and not bees.

On page 110, the text states that cubs are born when the mother bear is fast asleep. This is a very old myth. Mother bears do wake and care for their cubs during the hibernation phase. The old myth says that a mother bear goes to sleep in fall and wakes up in spring to find that she has cubs, but that is simply not true. Scientists have placed cameras inside the dens of mother bears with cubs and observed the active care that the mother bear provides to the babies, including licking them clean of snow, cleaning their fur, keeping them warm, feeding them, responding to their cries, etc.

On page 121, it is stated that bears check the heights of bear marks on trees to determine who is the taller bear, and that they avoid areas with larger bears. This is another myth that has been dispelled by researchers. In fact, bears will mark on trees at the level of the roots, biting and rubbing to leave scent there. Bears will even roll on fallen trees to leave scent marks on them. So, the old myth about the taller bear leaving his mark higher up on the tree and other bears avoiding the area is simply not true. Also, I am not sure what is meant by the second caption on page 121 where it states that when two bears meet, they compare heights and check markings. When bears meet, they don’t go through any such rituals, although there are some behaviors they exhibit during such encounters.

The caption on page 217 indicates a brown bear, but the bear in the photo is a black bear. Note the facial markings, markings on backs of the ears, and face shape.

So, my overall impression is that this is a great book with beautiful images of bears. It is not meant to be a field guide, so take any information in the sidebars and captions and do your own research if you want to learn more facts about bears. There are plenty of field guides and more detailed accounts out there, but the photos alone make this book worth it.

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Bears is a photographic sample of the different bear species found worldwide. Released 14th Oct. 2020 by Amber Books, it's 224 pages and available in hardcover format.

This is a beautifully photographed and clearly written treatise on the reclusive (and increasingly threatened and vulnerable) populations of bears across the globe. The text is arranged logically: first a look at the different types of bear and their geographic locations, followed by habitats, family units, and cubs,

The text is minimal but accessible for all ages, and the photography is abundant and clear (albeit from stock photo sources). The content is appropriate for all ages (no explicit pics of mating or any blood/gore). Apart from the intro/species chapter, the pictures are somewhat random. There are a large number of adorable cub pics included in their own chapter.

Four stars. This would make a nice selection for a nature-loving reader, library acquisition, school library or similar.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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This was fun to read! I liked the pictures a lot, and I learned a lot about bears. The final chapter about the cubs was absolutely adorable. I loved it. Would recommend this.

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Delivers exactly what it promises: tons of awesome pictures about bears, accompanied by plenty of interesting bear facts. If you are at all interested in bears, or if you just need to decompress by looking at pictures of adorable bear cubs and majestic polar bears, black bears, brown bears, panda bears, beary bears…then this is the book for you.

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What a beautiful book! The photographs in here, as always with a book from Amber publishing, are stunning. Ranging from cute to dramatic each truly deserves its place in this book. This is not just a book of amazing photographs though. It is also extremely informative about the 8 species of bear that live on our planet. I never knew that polar bears hair is transparent! The empty shaft reflects the light which makes it appear white. The shaft would normally contain pigment to give the coat colour but the space is filled with air in a polar bear increasing the insulation which the coat provides. This book would make a lovely gift for any one interested in bears, the animal kingdom or indeed an artist as it is a great source book for detailed images. All in all a gorgeous book to grace any coffee table- the epitome of a ‘coffee table book’!
My thanks to Netgalley and Amber Publishing for allowing me access to a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Bears is a stunning photography book all about the beautiful but reclusive animal we are all drawn to either by Teddy bears or by real life in some form or another.
This book not only shows visually beautiful photography of these amazing bears but also gives a wealth of knowledge and information across the pages too.
This book is bound to give the reader at least one snippet of information they didn't know about about bears.

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Sigh. I just LOVE Tom Jackson's animal books. The pictures he compiles are GORGEOUS and the facts are really interesting and I ALWAYS learn something from his books, including this one.

And yes, when discussing animals, he DOES have to mention that yes, we humans suck and are endangering the beautiful life on this planet, but he doesn't dwell on it and the primary focus is the amazing animal he is discussing on the page. So while you will end up disliking humanity intensely, it is only for a few moments and then the awe of the animal, in this case the bears, comes through.

I think I learned the most about pandas from this, though the polar bear is a WICKED SCARY hunter and I'm glad I'm not a seal in the Arctic, let me just put it that way. Polar bears can smell the seals THROUGH THE ICE and while they will wait by breathing holes for seals to pop their cute little head up to breathe and grab them then, the polar bears can ALSO BREAK THROUGH THE ICE to get to the seals under it!!! That's some horror-movie stuff right there!

I highly recommend ALL of his animal books, including this one on bears. 5, ohmygoodness I never realized how CUTE pandas are, stars!

My thanks to NetGalley and Amber Books Ltd for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

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Wow! This book is absolutely stunning!

It explains the species of bears, habitats, family and cubs.

It starts with an introduction on each of these subjects and then these amazing and beautiful pictures come of all these bears and their cubs and habitats.

I've bears and seeing them in their natural habitats is amazing!

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I loved this book. The pictures are gorgeous and the text interesting. I loved the photos of cubs that made me smile.
It's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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Bears is an exquisite book filled with a wealth of knowledge on one of the most majestic yet reclusive of all the creatures in the entirety of the natural world. It is split into four distinct sections: Types of Bear; Habitats; Family; and Cubs and is topped and tailed by introduction and picture credits sections respectively. The section entitled ’Types of Bear’ explores the eight distinct species and where in the world each live accompanied by stunning full-colour photographs ranging from smaller offset ones to those covering an entire page; all are exquisite. We begin with the Sun Bear and information included is alternate names, diet, quirks particular to that species, size and appearance, and more. We then go through a trove of fascinating details on the American Black Bear, Brown Bear, Forest/Andean Bear, Polar Bear, Asian Black Bear, Giant Panda and Sloth Bear.

The ’Habitats’ section explores where on the globe each of these bears can be found in more detail as well as the deeply concerning Issue of loss of habitats due to climate change, deforestation and other social and political issues. The ’Family’ chapter discusses breeding, hunting and feeding and of course has the most adorable photos of bear cubs with their mothers I've ever seen, and the final section on ’Cubs' explores how little ones learn and thrive in the wild learning all the skills they will need to survive. A delightful collection of over 150 photographs of bears in their natural environments, this is the perfect coffee table book or gift for the animal lover in your life. It's a beautifully put together nonfiction title. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Amber Books for an ARC.

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After checking out two other animals in this series, I had to peruse through this as well. A few years ago, unexpectedly, my husband and I chanced upon a black mother bear and her three cubs. We had seen them cross the road in the national park earlier, but then we were in a car, and they were not. Now we had blundered almost next to them. All the previously known advice flew out of my brain, and although I backed away slowly, the rest of the progress off the trail was done much quicker. She actually made eye contact with me. This collection, therefore, was more significant to me than I expected.

The photos were as beautiful as expected. The chapters are divided by behaviour and not by species. We get a brief introduction to all the species and some salient facts. The one about polar bears surprised me. A few photos of the bears lounging were hilariously close to how we would look on a sofa. I am willing to keep picking up every subsequent species that the publishers put out. They are an introduction as well as a summary of what we can actually retain about animals.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

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I loved Bears by Tom Jackson.

Bears explains types of bears, habitats, family and cubs. Each section has a brief introduction followed by amazing photographs. I enjoyed learning a little bit more about bears.

I am a big fan of bears and loved seeing all of these amazing photographs. There is a variety of photographs of different kinds of bears. My favorite sections were the family section seeing the cute bear families and the cubs seeing all of the young bears.

Thank you NetGalley and Amber Books for Bears.

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Another stunning photo book by Amber Books and photographer Tom Jackson.

Every page is filled with gorgeous photos of bears, my favourite sections being the ones that featured polar bears and panda bears , but I just love both of them

A must have for a bear and photography lovers !

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This is an awesome book if you like the king of the woods,bears are awesome and this book is packed with great pictures and facts about my favorite animal.ever since my run in with a grizzly in glacier I can’t get enough information on this magnificent animal,and yes I survived! Get it ,read it then read it again,great book

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Beautiful photographs of many different varieties of bears from all over, complete with descriptions. The subtitle says the photographs are “stunning” and the description is not wrong. Bears are such exquisite and amazing animals. This would do great as a coffee table book with enlarged detailed photos.

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A wonderful book with many beautiful pictures for kids and adults alike! I totally did not know some of the bear facts included in this book, and I'd love to learn more about them after reading through this book :)
Recommend 100%! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

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