This book is dedicated to the wonderful teachers and students in West Virginia.

It was one early winter morning, towards the middle of January. In Montana, a blizzard like storm was taking over, making it look like a winter wonderland. Right when the windy snow storm started to diminish, it suddenly shook the ground of a snow covered den. A small, innocent, grizzly bear named Toby opened his tired eyes as he woke up from the middle of his hibernation.

“What just happened?” said Toby, very confused and groggy.

As he looked around the den, he realized his mom was still asleep. Toby looked out the opening of the den, to see a fresh snowfall had just covered the frozen ground.

A loud rumbling noise startled Toby, causing him to fall out of bed.

“Was that my stomach? I mean I am pretty hungry," said the young grizzly bear. “I can go find food for myself this time. I’ll show my mom how grown up I really am!”  

So Toby bundled up and got ready to find food.

Although Toby had never hunted by himself before, he picked up strategies from his mom when they used to go together. After thinking for awhile, Toby reached the edge of the den opening as the wind started to die down. Thankful, Toby took the steps needed to leave the cave and continued into the forest. While Toby walked, he left a small pebble trail behind him to make sure he didn't get lost. He began to walk farther while the wind started to pick up.

Hungry, Toby wasn't aware of the wind picking up and started to chase an elk. The majestic elk spotted him long before he was able to strike, then darted in the opposite direction. Toby chased the elk for awhile before he ran out of breath and started getting too tired to continue the chase. Toby was very upset that he wasn’t able to catch the elk like his mom had always done, so he settled for something that didn't move. He spotted a berry bush out of his right eye.

“Perfect,” he thought, “these berries will do just the trick!”

As he reached for the berries, he heard a rustle coming from the branches. A very small groundhog appeared from the center of the bush.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing with my berries? Do you have any manners?” the groundhog exclaimed.

Toby was shocked. It was the middle of the day and the groundhog’s shadow was clear on the ground.

“Why aren’t you inside? It’s daytime and your shadow is on the ground. Aren’t you afraid?” Toby questioned as the small groundhog laughed.

“Well, my name is George. George the groundhog. And I am certainly not afraid of anything. After all, a shadow is nothing to be afraid of! It’s just the outline of my body created from me being in front of the sun. All a shadow does is change length and direction due to the sun setting at each time of the day. It’s harmless and always will be!” chuckled George.

Before Toby could reply, George reached out with a hand full of berries for Toby.

“Go on, I don’t bite," said George. "I’ll share some of my berries with you. You just can’t have them all.”

George was much older than the young bear cub. He looked more experienced and wise.

“Well thank you for the berries, Mr. George. I have to get home now. It’s starting to get dark,” Toby told the groundhog and started to walk home by himself.

As Toby walked, he realized that he could not find his trail of pebbles.

“The snow must have covered up my pebbles! How am I going to get home?”

Toby had nothing else to do but try and ask George for help. Since George shared his berries, the hopeful cub thought he would help him find his way home. Toby walked up to the groundhog with a big frown on his face.

“Why the long face, kid?” George asked.

“I can’t find my way home.” Toby replied. “It got dark way quicker than I am used to. My pebble trail that I left was covered by the snow and now I can’t find it. All I know is that I live towards this way,” claimed Toby as he pointed far off into the distance.