I believe you are remembering "Pierre Bear," by Patricia (Patsy) and
Richard Scarry. It involves a mother bear, father bear, and baby bear,
and features hunting for both moose and seal.
"Pierre Bear" was published as a "Little Golden Book" in the 1950s,
and was later included in a very popular children's anthology called
"Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever," which was published in
several editions in the 60's and early '70s. A few other Scarry
collections also contain the story. More recent reprints have left it
out, as mentioned later.
Here is a summary of the story, from a newsgroup post:
"I have a battered but much-loved '73 edition of Richard Scarry's Best Story
Book Ever, that I believe contains the story you described.
Pierre Bear by Patricia Scarry
Quickish summary: He lived all by himself, fishing all alone, preparing fish
supper, 'for Pierre was a Great Fisherman', wishing he had someone to share
it with. Then he heads for 'the wild woods to hunt the Terrible Moose'. He
kills a moose, 'for Pierre was the bravest hunter of all the north' and
makes 'moose stew, and moose pie, and moose cake, and thirteen jars of
minced moosemeat'. Then he takes all his furs to the trading post to sell.
He tells the 'pleasant lady bear' that he needs a guitar to sing to for he
lives alone. She says if that's the case he needs company and the next day
they are married and return to his cabin on a sledge - she's pictured all
snuggled up under some furs. 'They lived happily all year long,' with much
cooking and guitar playing. 'But, best of all, Spring brought a little baby
bear to Mr and Mrs Pierre Bear. He was round and funny and full of fun.
And oh, how they loved him.' Baby bear goes everywhere with Pierre. One
day Pierre decides the family needs new fur coats, so he and baby bear
paddle their little boats 'to the place where the Fur Seal lived' and 'shot
him. BANG!'. Mrs Pierre makes them all white and black sealskin coats."
Google Groups: from rec.arts.books.childrens newsgroup
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&safe=off&threadm=928295784.910013%40RedRat.CandW.ky&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522pierre%2Bbear%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26newwindow%3D1%26c2coff%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D928295784.910013%2540RedRat.CandW.ky%26rnum%3D2
"Pierre Bear" is only in the editions of "The Best Story Book Ever"
that were published in 1973 and earlier. The story has been eliminated
from more recent printings. Apparently it isn't considered
"politically correct" because of the hunting and shooting aspects.
"While no one in our shop has ever eaten Minced Moosemeat, some of us
are particularly fond of Patricia Scarry's tale, 'Pierre Bear,' in
which Pierre hunts the Terrible Moose, and shoots him. Bang! This
leads to romance, a bear cub, then a father & son hunting trip. This
story has been cruelly excised from the current edition of 'Richard
Scarry's Best Story Book Ever.' If your kid's version is missing this
story, hunt around for 1973 printing."
Golden Witch
http://www.goldenwitch.com/index.php?MenuLevel1=Fly%20Tying&MenuLevel2=Furs
If you are interested in purchasing a used copy of one of the books
that contains "Pierre Bear," here are several to choose from:
ABE Books
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=278226562
ABE Books
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=297106880
ABE Books
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=94598132
ABE Books
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=205036569
ABE Books
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=291872582
I hope this helps! If this is not the book you're seeking, please
request clarification before rating my answer, and I will gladly
resume the quest.
Best wishes,
pinkfreud |
