Driven away from his mother’s home range, a young bobcat, “Yearling,” sets out on a journey to find territory of his own. It is winter, and the landscape is covered in snow. A human child addressed in the narrative touches Yearling’s tracks, which stretch through their front yard. “Could this be Yearling’s territory?” is the refrain as the bobcat continually comes upon—and is chased out of—land already occupied by other animals: bobcats, a Canada lynx (who beats Yearling to a snowshoe hare dinner), a coyote. In the bitter cold, Yearling follows a set of train tracks and stops to snack on birds at a birdfeeder. He wanders until spring arrives and he has matured from Yearling to Bobcat. On a street lined with houses, Bobcat encounters the body of Old Bobcat and marks the territory for himself. That night he rests in his new home. The text addresses two children in a tent in the backyard, “This is your home, too. And tonight, you will sleep under the stars. Just like Bobcat.” Detailed, realistic watercolors depict Bobcat in desolate landscapes and startling proximity to humans, while back matter provides additional information about these wild cats.   (Ages 4-8)

In this companion to Coyote Moon and Hawk Rising, a young bobcat searches a suburban landscape for a territory to call home.

As the day breaks,
feline eyes blink open,
and yowls disrupt the still morning air.

A young bobcat leaves tracks in the snow as he sets out to find a home range of his own. Amidst the harsh winds and icy chill of winter, Yearling travels between the deep wilderness and suburbia, hunting for prey as he goes. He tracks hare, squirrel, pheasant...

Watching.

Waiting.

LEAP!

But each time, he is foiled by the resident predator. Will Yearling find a territory to call his own?