Three-year-old Sarah Whitcher doesn't mean to get lost in the woods on the way to her aunt's house but she does. Her family searches frantically for her, certain that she must be dead. When she is finally found, she says she was not scared because a big, black dog protected her. But everyone - except Sarah - knew that it wasn't a dog that protected her. It was a big, black bear. This story is based on a true story of a girl in 1783 who gets lost in the woods in New Hampshire and is found days later in the protection of a bear.

Characters: Sarah, Sarah's family, people that help look for Sarah
Setting: The woods in New Hampshire
Theme: Trust/Innocence

Post-reading discussions may include:
hope; trust; innocence; bears; human nature; and fear.

Summary: Sarah's family decided to go visit her aunt and uncle that lived through the woods, but Sarah was too little so she was told to stay home. While everyone was off in the distance Sarah decided to walk behind them, but soon she could not see them in sight. Sarah continued to walk until she realized that her mama and papa were not going to be coming back. After some time she heard a noise and saw a black dog (bear) staring at her and decided to befriend him while he curled up around her to sleep. Throughout the night while Sarah was safely sleeping with the bear, many people were looking for her. After four long days of searching, Sarah had finally been found by a man who had dreamed of a young girl wrapped around safely by a big black bear.

Review: What a heartwarming story! This wonderful, true story helps teach one important central lesson, which is that we should listen to our parents and not wonder off by ourselves. The authors do a great job of retelling their great-great-great-great-great aunt by pulling the reader into the story with painting such wonderful pictures through their words. At the beginning of the story the authors paint the setting by explaining that was "a warm afternoon" and "no axes rang in the great pine woods," which could help the reader understand just how peaceful the day really was back in 1783. Although I believe that this would be a good book for grades 3rd-4th, I would not recommend it as a read-aloud book unless it was read throughout several days. The book is quite long, but a child who is confident in reading would be more suited to read this book for independent reading. ( )

A true story about a little girl that gets lost in the woods and is protected by a bear until she's found and returned to her family. Story set in New Hampshire in late 1700s. Beautiful paintings.

Would not make a good read aloud book, because its to long. Inless, it was broken up over a few days or different activities. :) ( )

Not a read-aloud/too long. Based on a true story of a litlle girl lost in the woods guarded by a large black "dog" (bear). ( )