I'd like the title of a children's book about a lonely pioneer-type
guy who meets a mermaid.  She move in with him and they adopt a bear,
and then find a human baby and raise it.  I think it was written in
the 60s or 70s, and I read it in a "young adult" format paperback.

Hi bonzodog-ga,

I'm pretty sure the book you're looking for is "The Animal Family",
written by Randall Jarrell, originally published in 1965 and
republished in 1996.

Here's an excerpt:

"Once upon a time, long, long ago, where the forest runs down to the
ocean, a hunter lived all alone in a house made of logs he had chopped
for himself and shingles he had split for himself... One night, the
lonely hunter hears the singing of a mermaid, and because "he himself
was as patient as an animal," the mermaid learns to trust him... The
mermaid and the hunter become a family when the hunter takes a bear
cub from its mother to live with them as a son.... Having a bear
around seems perfectly normal, but not quite a complete family, so
eventually the hunter captures a spotted baby lynx. When the lynx
brings home not another dead partridge, but a little boy, the
delicate, playful family dynamics change again..."


The ISBN number is 0062050885.

You can get the book on Amazon ($11.89):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0062050885


If this would not be the book you're looking for (although I can't
image two different stories to be so alike), please let me know and
I'll continue searching.


Another link concerning this book:

http://www.rambles.net/jarrell_animal.html


Kind regards,

rhansenne-ga.

Search terms used:

+"bear" +"mermaid" +"adopt" +"childrens book"

That's IT!  I've been looking for this for years.  Thanks for the
speedy and thorough answer!