#pierre bear

[visual-oddities]

Jumpstart 4th Grade (Haunted Island)

Jumpstart Pre-K Easter Eggs

I am beginning to see why this game got replaced.

[busduty-blog]

Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder: One Book at a Time

Families across the country are concerned with “Nature Deficit Disorder” – especially after reading Last Child in the Woods or articles like “What Apple is doing to our Children’s brains” (http://money.msn.com/investing/how-apple-is-changing-kids-brains-fiscaltimes.aspx)  . Last Child in the Woods is the brings together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. “What Apple is doing to our brains” details some alarming and interesting information on the changes in the ways our children are learning.

You probably already noticed differences between generations, though, like when your 3-year old son can turn on the i-pad, put in the password, find his “ABC Music” app and begin playing the “nose flute” even though your mother can not seem to locate the New York Times app to read her daily news.

Here in Montana, I know that a lot of parents are concerned about outside play time, but we feel like our kids are still getting outside and going camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, etc. It’s the kids in NYC we should be worried about, right? Our kids here in Bozeman are always going to choose going hunting with dad over playing an “Elkaholics” game on their phones, right?

But some of these alarming trends and habits develop in ways that seem to be out of our control. What books can we purchase at the bookstore?

A book that my children absolutely love, probably because of the way my husband reads it to them, is Pierre Bear, an old Golden Book by Richard Scary. We have a copy of it in the 1961 version of Richard Scary’s collection of favorite stories, and like “Little Black Sambo” this story is not included in the modern printing.

If you didn’t already know it, Pierre Bear is the greatest hunter in all the north. Not only is he a great hunter, but he uses the hunted animal to its full capacity (after he shoots the moose, he makes minced moose meat, moose pie, etc). He finds a lady friend to marry, they have a baby bear, and Pierre Bear does what a lot of Montana dads do – takes his son out hunting with him and teaches him to be part of the next generation of great hunters (with an appreciation of nature).

Why isn’t the story included in the modern collection? You’d have to ask the publishers, but probably because of these two pages : [Pierre Bear] hunted for the furriest seal and then…BANG…he shot him dead” and subsequently made fur/seal coats for the whole family.

I’ll admit, when I first read these pages, I shuddered a bit – no one likes to think of that cute furry seal being shot and used for a coat. I remember looking sideways at my husband as my kids eagerly shouted “BANG” when I flipped the page. After all, I am an East Coast gal who never pictured my hamburgers actually coming from a cow.

As I’ve thought more about it, I think not including Pierre Bear in the newest edition of is a reflection on how nature deficit disorder has permeated parenting, even on the basest level of reading great stories.

But there is something uncomfortable about reading Pierre Bear aloud to our children. Is it possible to get past that discomfort simply for the value of exposing my children to hunting? Or is it better to pretend hunters don’t exist and that seals are all cuddly and need protection.

According to Last Child in the Woods, “Our society is teaching young people to avoid direct experience in nature. That lesson is delivered in schools, families, even organizations devoted to the outdoors, and codified into the legal and regulatory structures of many of our communities. Our institutions, urban/suburban design, and cultural attitudes unconsciously associate nature with doom—while disassociating the outdoors from joy and solitude. Well-meaning public-school systems, media, and parents are effectively scaring children straight out of the woods and fields.”

That scares me. So, I suggest we all read stories like Pierre Bear aloud to our children despite the discomfort it may provide - because how the young respond to nature, and how they raise their own children, will shape the configurations and conditions of our cities, homes—our daily lives -- in the future. 

Readers, what do you think?