THE BLACK BEAR TWINS

Continuing her animal ""twins"" series, Jane Tompkins follows the same learning and seasonal cycle as in The Red (1950- p. 608). A solicitous very human Mrs. Bear sees her offspring, Smokey and Tar Baby, through nursing, sibling rivalry, foraging her meals, learning to swim, knowing the habits of other animals. A lesson in captivity- bear-wise and human-wise, comes when the twins stray too near the house of Bill and Claudia Holliday and are tied up for a while. New understandings about the freedom of the wilds are gleaned by all the bears and all the Hollidays and friendships are kept. Though sentimentally styled in the extreme humanization of the animals, this is informative in the ways of the forest.