Sylvia lives with her family (her Dad, her Mom, and her Uncle Walter) in their big house in the Maine woods. In the Waltzing With Bears books she tells the story of her adventures with Uncle Walter and his musical bear friends
Titles in the series are
Book 1: Uncle Walter’s Friends
Book 1 is available now. To buy a book, go to the last line of this website and click on the cart icon.
Book 2 : Journey to the Palace of the Polar Bear King
Book 2 will be available October 1, 2025.
Book 3 : Return of the Sunset Mountain Witch
Book 4 : Night of the Ring of Fire
Book 5 : Captain Strongbow’s Treasure
Book 6 : The Big Day (That Almost Wasn’t)
Book 7: Emperor of the Maine Forest
Book 8 : Invasion of the Mini-Oaks
Music for Book 1
Waltzing with Bears
Written by Dale Marxen. Performed by Priscilla Herdman.
This Little Light of Mine
Written by Harry Dixon Loes. Performed by Jimmy Rossi and The Jeeemies.
Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog
Written by Hoyt Axton. Performed by The Blue Sea Band, Fred Mollin, Lyle Gudmensen.
If I Knew You Were Coming I’d’ve Baked a Cake
Written by Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill, and Clem Watts. Performed by Eileen Barton.
The Blue Danube Waltz
Written by Johann Strauss. Performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
Music for Book 2
The Vienna Woods Waltz
Written by Johan Strauss. Performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
By The Blazing Council Fire Light
Music written by Richard A. Whiting, Lyrics by Boy Scouts of America.
Performed by the Baum Family Trio.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Music written by Harold Arlen. Lyrics written by Yip Harburg. From the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. Performed by Judy Garland.
The Finlandia Hymn
Written by Jean Sibelius. Performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Helsinki Sinfonietta conducted by Leif Segerstam.
Happy days are here again
Music written by Milton Ager. Lyrics written by Jack Yellen. Performed by The Army Stars.
Colonel Bogey March
Written by Kenneth J Alfred. Performed by Boston Pops Orchestra with John Williams conducting.
National Emblem march
Written by Edwin Eugene Bagley. Performed by USAF Tactical Air Command Band, conducted by Lt.Col. Lowell E. Graham.
The Teddy Bears Picnic
Written by Jimmy Kennedy. Performed by May Kay and Duke.
The Stars And Stripes Forever
Written by John Philipp Sousa. Performed by The Dallas Winds Orchestra with Jeff Gershman conducting.
Rights to all music are held by their respective copywright holders.
About the Authors
Paul Frank Baum and Clara Rose Shafer are a grandfather-granddaughter team. P.F. Baum is a Professor of Mathematics — Atherton Professor of Mathematics — at Penn State Universty. C.R. Shafer is a student at MECA, Maine College of Art and Design. For the Waltzing with Bears books, Grandpa Paul wrote the text and Granddaughter Clara did the illustrations.
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