Review: Little Jake and the Three Bears

I recently received a late Christmas present my older brother and his wife while at work.


At a later date I'll talk about the other gifts, like my new Create-A-Commie playset, but the most interesting thing I received was children's book, Little Jake and the The Three Bears. was by far the funniest of the three gifts, and I gathered a few members of the around to have them listen to its tale.


These are self-published books from Littlesportsman.com, a pro-hunting organization that wants to teach kids while they're young about safer hunting practices. It kind of feels like an attempt at disseminating the 'negative propaganda' spread by anti-hunting agendas looking to ban the sport.

I've been cruising around their website, and I have to say it's a fascinating result spawning from a not-uncommon feeling felt amongst sportsmen. The people who I've chatted with at gun shows seem to have a sense among them that their right to hunt is being taken away, or slowly taxed and restricted to the point where it just isn't feasible. This book is a very friendly and measured response from a group of people who are wrongfully as labeled “Gun-nuts” and “Rednecks.”

And for parents who really do want to teach their children about hunting safely, with respect to both the law and the land, it's a pretty good piece of literature. The lessons it teaches are all legit, here's a little quote from a review on the site:

“...Dad teaches Little Jake all the ins and outs: why it’s illegal to fly and hunt the same day; how to get within range of a caribou herd; how to aim behind the shoulder; why hunters must pack out all their meat...”

Of course, I don't imagine this book would have an impact at all on kids whose parents aren't hunters themselves. A coworker who caught the tail end of the book as I was reading it aloud said something along the lines of:

“This would scare the hell out of my daughter if I read it to her!”

For someone my age though, it was worth a chuckle. I didn't see the end coming even though I really should have. I think its message is good, but I also understand how anti-hunting groups might look at this as “Gun-nut brainwash propaganda.” But then again, maybe if they took the time to read the book they'd garner a little appreciation for the sport of hunting.

I give Little Jake and the Three Bears

7/10

It gains big points for having full and colourful illustrations, small words that were easy to read, and hilarious dialogue. The main character also had a lot of compassion and wisdom for his young age, as evidenced when he spares the life of a few bears.

It loses points though because throughout the book Little Jake was tromping about the wilderness by himself, and illegally operating a motor vehicle, when he clearly should have had adult accompaniment. The website says Little Jake is actually a teenager, but I don't think kids would see that.

Furthermore, lets quit it with the constant characters named Jake. I rail about this all the time, but I think Jake is just too overused. Can't we call all these generic characters something else for a change?

How about Bobbert? Or Theodore? Or Deckard? I've only heard Deckard used twice before, and once was Harrison Ford's character name, so it's gotta be good, right?