National Parks Traveler

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bookstores Carrying New Children’s Title To Help Protect Wildlife

“Mabel Meets a Black Bear” Teaches Kids to Be BearWise 

By Frances Figart

As days lengthen and temperatures rise, black bears in national parks all across the country begin to move around the forest in search of insects, nuts, and berries. But they also venture beyond the parks’ boundaries, making their way into gateway communities to look for food.

In cities and towns surrounding popular destinations like Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this situation can pose a serious threat to bears and humans alike — increasing the need to educate park visitors of all ages on proper bear etiquette and food storage practices.

And that’s just the message “Mabel Meets a Black Bear” hopes to convey.

Published in April 2023 by Great Smoky Mountains Association, a nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the rhyming picture book for readers ages 5 to 10 pairs charming illustrations with real-world lessons about what to do — and what not to do — when visiting bear country.

In sync with bears’ emergence, Great Smoky Mountains Association has just released a new book teaching kids the importance of bears’ natural foods and showing what can happen when bears are allowed access to the food humans eat or the scraps and trash those foods create/Phil Horton via GSMA.

“Mabel Meets a Black Bear” tells the story of twin sisters Mabel and Louise, who are vacationing with their mom and dad in a rental cabin near the national park. Mabel is extroverted, her inquisitive mind moving so fast that her 10-year-old body can barely keep up. Louise, the narrator, is an equally intelligent but quieter, less confident version of her sister.

When Mabel coerces Louise to join her in sneaking out of the cabin in the middle of the night, the two come face to face with a large bear that has been lured by snacks Mabel left out on the picnic table. The events that unfold teach the sisters a hard (but necessary) lesson that young readers and their guardians can apply to their own visit to a park gateway community.

“Mabel Meets a Black Bear” was spawned by a dire need to better educate tourists, especially those staying in rental cabins near national parks. Many park-goers arrive in picturesque places like the Smokies hoping to see bears but with no understanding that leaving food and trash available to bears can end in their demise.

In the story, Mabel and Louise learn that human actions can mean death for bears. When bears become food conditioned, they can end up hurting humans (often by accident), which then leaves wildlife managers no choice but to destroy the animals.

While many people think “conflict bears” can just be moved somewhere else, that’s simply not the case. “Though once thought to be an effective method of managing food-conditioned bears, relocation can prove fatal for bears,” says GSMNP Supervisory Wildlife Biologist Bill Stiver. “In a study of 32 GPS-collared bears relocated between 2015 and 2021, 62 percent were either harvested, killed on roads, or euthanized for causing conflict at their new location, while 22 percent simply returned to the original site.”

Great Smoky Mountains Association collaborated to vet both the text and illustrations with NPS’s Supervisory Wildlife Biologist Bill Stiver, Kim Delozier of BearWild, Dana Dodd of Appalachian Bear Rescue, and the national BearWise® marketing and communications directors, LaVonne Ewing and Linda Masterson, who penned the book’s “Be a BearWise Kid” bonus material.

Though the picture book is set in the Smokies, its lesson is universal. The issue outlined in “Mabel” applies to wildlife and people near parks and other protected lands everywhere. Whether intentional or unintentional, the feeding of black bears in developed areas is detrimental to human safety, to economic stability and to the protection of an iconic lifeform — not just in the Smokies but throughout the species’ entire territory.

Lodgings and businesses near protected lands are critical to modeling proper management of food and garbage, and Mabel’s story is designed to be shared with their customers and patrons — a reminder of the potential real-life consequences that families may face while staying in gateway communities.

At the end of the book, readers reconnect with the twins 17 years later, each having found her own way to educate others “about keeping all food scraps away from black bears.”

An educational section, ‘Be a BearWise Kid,’ follows the book’s main story and gives additional guidance on bear etiquette in and around national parks — collaboratively developed by Great Smoky Mountains Association, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Smokies BearWise® task force, Appalachian Bear Rescue, and the national BearWise® organization, which is dedicated to helping people live responsibly with black bears.

                                                                                                                                                             Mike Clark photo

The BearWise® Basics

* Never feed or approach bears

* Secure food, garbage, and recycling

* Remove bird feeders when bears are active

* Never leave pet food outdoors

* Clean and store grills

* Alert neighbors to bear activity

“‘Mabel Meets a Black Bear’ is that rare children’s book that is not just beautifully written and charmingly illustrated but tells a tale that will stay with every child and every adult who spends time in bear country — long after the last page is turned,” said Linda Masterson of BearWise®, who wrote the ‘Be a BearWise Kid’ section. “It's bound to become both a favorite storybook and a handy guide people will turn to again and again. We believe that once kids have the information they need and understand just how much of a difference they can make, they'll put that power to work.”

The BearWise® program is managed by a team of North American bear biologists and communications professionals and supported by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) and dozens of BearWise member state wildlife agencies. BearWise® Created by bear biologists. Supported by state wildlife agencies. Dedicated to helping people live responsibly with black bears. Learn more at BearWise.org.

Great Smoky Mountains Association is a supporter of the National Parks Traveler

Great Smoky Mountains Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the scientific, historical, and interpretive activities of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing educational products and services to park visitors. GSMA depends on the generous support of its members to fulfill its mission, preserving the Smokies for generations to come. Membership-driven funding also supports the preservation of more than 90 historic structures throughout the park, as well as the backcountry rangers who protect more than 800 miles of trails to spectacular mountain vistas, rushing streams, waterfalls, and quiet groves of old-growth forest. For more information about GSMA, visit smokiesinformation.org.

Frances Figart (rhymes with Tiger) is the editor of Smokies Life and the Creative Services Director for the 29,000-member Great Smoky Mountains Association, an educational nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reach her at [email protected]. Purchase “Mabel Meets a Black Bear” at smokiesinformation.org. Get all the BearWise Basics® at bearwise.org.