CHOCOLATE, A GLACIER GRIZZLY

Billed as a ``true story,'' this is the reported life-cycle of Chocolate, born in Glacier Park and weighing less than a pound and ``smaller than one of her mother's paws.'' On the way to asserting independence as a cub, she learns to dig for alpine bistort bulbs, search for a winter den, and beware the sting of a large male grizzly's claws. As Chocolate wanders through Many Glacier Valley, she beholds a strange creature on two hind legs— a man. Midway through the story, the point of view switches from Chocolate's to that of the humans; the park rangers stun her with a tranquilizing dart, slip a radio collar on her neck for tracking, and transport her via helicopter to her new home much deeper in the park, away from people. The delivery is straightforward and without suspense, with awkward grammar and a disquieting blend of fact and fabrication. Wildlife sketches show bears at play, work, and on the move, in profile and upright, swimming, hunting, fighting, and sleeping, against mountainous, snow-capped scenery. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-10)