About the Author

KATHERINE AYRES lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she writes and teaches writing to graduate students in Chatham University's MFA Program. She also lives in Stockbridge, Massachusetts where she writes, gardens, hikes, kayaks, and watches for bears. She is the author of ten books for children and teens, as well as three chapbooks of poetry. She has been honored as a Champion of Literacy, as Outstanding Writer for Children by the Pennsylvania School Library Association. Her picture book, Up, Down, and Around was chosen as the Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child, and as the Kansas Reads to Preschool selection. BEAR SEASON (Autumn House Press, 2013) is her first collection of essays.

Reviews

Through this all-encompassing survey of bears, Ayres's respect and affection for them is evident. Facts are plentiful deftly interspersed with answers dispensed at the exact instant questions arise in readers' minds. By journey's end, having used research, folklore, and anecdotes, the author accomplishes her task of raising awareness while creating an entertaining, absorbing, and well-formed portrait of these impressive creatures. R.A. Voss, Weave Magazine"