This enormously popular children’s book is a delightful retelling of the Southern Sierra Miwok legend of the mountain El Capitan and how it came to be. Mother Grizzly Bear thinks that her two playful cubs are wrestling and having fun along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley while she is checking her fish traps. When she returns to join her sons, however, she discovers the cubs are nowhere to be found. Populated with characters based on real Sierra animals, this story is about the value of all beings, the nature of courage, and the lesson that being a hero has very little to do with one’s size. Includes notes about the life and culture of the Southern Sierra Miwok, a bibliography, and Internet resources for teachers. Named one of the Best Picture Books of 1997 by the San Francisco Chronicle