Balthazar's Crystal is magical and through its power we go on journeys to countries we may know little about and are asked to think about some big questions; questions like: How do we treat bears, one of our largest mammals? Why are they becoming endangered? Could we use land on our shared planet to make the world a better place for humans and animals? Should large animals such as bears be kept in zoos? These are huge questions and there are no easy or quick answers but they are questions that should at least be asked. To help us think about questions like these we journey with Balthazar (his nickname's Zar), his brother Zachary (or Zach for short) and their young friend Tae to the home of the Royal Clan of Bears from the country of Bhutan, to Far East Russia and to other places in our amazing planet. Through the power of Balthazar's Crystal we also Time Travel to learn some of the history of bears and humans in an effort to gain greater understanding of how humans and large animals interact on a planet that is seeing more and more natural habitats disappearing. Our journey begins when Zach sees a cloud in the exact shape of a bear and when he tells Zar they both have a sense of knowing that awakens in them all sorts of feelings - feelings of excitement, anxiety, hope and also courage and sorrow. Then when a man bumps into Zar and tells him urgently to go to the Crystal Shoppe not far away he realises that an adventure is about to begin for he and his brother. The brothers are joined by their friend Tae and as they enter the Crystal Shoppe they are greeted by the |