Eat Up, Bear!

Published by a nonprofit dedicated to preserving California’s Yosemite National Park, home to hundreds of black bears, this rhythmic board book has a clear message: bears in the wild should not consume human food, and humans ought to take precautions to ensure they don’t. Employing the catchy refrain “There, there. Eat up, bear!/ Good bear food is everywhere,” Pierce traces actions that humans can take to protect their food (“When campers latch their boxes right...”) and thereby guarantee that the omnivorous black bears eat appropriate bear food: nondescript blue and red berries from bushes, larvae from a fallen tree trunk, fish from a river, and more. Sarell’s richly saturated illustrations have a cartoonish, round-eyed bent, depicting bands of bears in various positions as well as human campers of varying abilities, ages, and skin tones. A forthright introduction to eco-friendly behaviors for the youngest campers. Ages up to 3. (Apr.)