RAINBOW BEAR

A young brown bear ends his hibernation in a most colorful fashion.

Little Bear awakens from his winter’s sleep. Yawning, stretching, and patting his tummy, he’s ravenous and searches for Mommy in their cave. She suggests going outside and eating purple berries. Little Bear eats berries of various colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy, and, finally, purple. After each feast, Little Bear says, “Hungry little me!” When he’s at last finished, he’s covered in different-colored juices. When Mommy sees her multihued “little Messy Bear,” he laughingly corrects her: “No, Mommy, I’m your little RAINBOW BEAR! HAPPY LITTLE ME!” This is a very simple, sweet introduction to the basic colors (color names are capitalized and printed in their respective colors). Some adult readers may be confused about why the authors opt for “navy,” a name children may be unfamiliar with, rather than “indigo.” (There’s some debate in the scientific community about whether indigo should be in the ROYGBIV rainbow.) Beauvois’ delightful collagelike illustrations are a remarkable homage to brilliant collaborations between the late Martin and Eric Carle, such as the classic picture book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1963). An endnote briefly explains hibernation and rainbows.

A charmer about bears, colors, food, and rainbows: What’s not to love?