Mr. Beans

Mr. Beans by Dayton O. Hyde 160 pages, 51/2 x 8 1/2 Hardcover with jacket. Ages 10 and up

Chirp never thought a harmless prank could end this way. “Counting Coup” started as innocent fun on an otherwise boring evening. According to Chirp’s friend, Mugsy, all they would have to do was shove the coup stick through the bars of the grizzly’s cage and touch the bear and then run away. It would be a chance to prove how brave they were, how much like the Native American ancestors Chirp longed so much to imitate. Set in the early 1940’s, Mr. Beans is more than an adventure story. With insight and skill, master storyteller Dayton O. Hyde chronicles not only the touching relationship of an orphaned boy and a grizzly bear, but the inward journey Chirp must make to find and accept his own identity as a Native American.