Customer Reviews

Hot Foot Teddy: The True Story of Smokey Bear

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Hot Foot Teddy, by Sue Houser, weaves a wonderful true story from the creative title of the book to the finishing sentence. Most people are familiar with Smokey Bear, but many may not know the inside story and some of the intriguing facts surrounding his rise to popularity. The book lays out the life of the bear that allows the reader to experience a range of emotions. Though geared toward children, adults too will be touched by the sweet story.

Sue Houser did a marvelous job of depicting the true life of Smokey The Bear who has saved million of trees with his messages of "Save the Forests" to children and adults alike. The pictures and the layout of the book are outstanding.

Don Bell

Hotfoot Teddy is a very well written book giving a detailed account of the true story of the injured bear cub and his journey to become the personification of Smokey Bear. The book is written like a large hard bound children's book of about forty pages. It has plenty of pictures that are photographs depicting the scenes. The book has a lot of photos but not enough to display on every page and many pages are all words, so that with the subject material covering the life and death, it may not be suitable for readers too young to comprehend. That being said I thought the book was a great quick read. I had been a great fan of "The Smokey Bear Show" cartoon as a child of 3yrs, but hadn't thought much about it in the last four decades. After seeing link from the closing credits a friend emailed me I was taken back and was compelled to learn more about the origin of "Smokey Bear" (realize I didn't say Smokey THE Bear, and spelled it s-m-o-k-E-y, but you'll learn why when you read the book). My online search returned a pdf of a comic book called "The True Story Of Smokey THE Bear" which was somewhat informative (if somewhat juvenile and a product of its period) but left me wanting more. I then found this book and immediately ordered it. A few days later when I found the package on my doorstep, after a long day at work/ I didn't go in. just sat down on the porch reading it from beginning to end (I had tears in my eyes at the end). It was a great story, and will read it again many times in the future.

We all know the story of Smokey Bear, the bear cub captured during a forest fire near Capitan, NM. But Hot Foot Teddy just may be the definitive story of our favorite bear. Author Sue Houser of Albuquerque provides new details as well fine archival photos. One shows the late Dr. Edwin Smith of Santa Fe bandaging the bear's burned paws.

First nurtured at the Bell Ranch, Smokey romped with a young cocker spaniel that even toilet trained the cub to newspapers. But what to do with an older bear? Four years prior to the capture, the U.S. Forest Service created a fire prevention campaign complete with an image of a bear. Now they had a real bear with a great story, so in 1950 Smokey went to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Even for adults the story is intriguing. Depending on the reading ability, children will equally become engaged, either by reading the book independently or listening. The book is a fine tribute to not only one of New Mexico's most famous celebrity, but our country's.

"Hot Foot Teddy" tells the behind scene story of a lost, little bear who makes a great contribution to forest safety and preservation. Well written! Fun to read!