GRANDMA’S BEARS

Nat comes to stay overnight at Grandma’s and meets the bears who live with her in this slightly peculiar tale. They are big, live bears, and while Grandma puts on the kettle, lights the fire and makes dinner, Nat plays a hopping game with Arthur, distracts Aggie with doughnuts, and hides under the table with TumTum. At bath time, shaggy Floss acts as his towel, and after Grandma tucks Nat in bed, he finds Smoky the bear cub cuddling down beside him. The bears—black, brown, polar—are wonderfully drawn, and the contrast with the cozy and realistic pastel-and-watercolor interiors of Grandma’s cottage is a little strange. The geography of the house is a little hard to resolve, too, as the table in the kitchen isn’t the table in front of the fireplace, and then that table disappears from where it should be. If children can accept the fantasy, this will work for bedtime. (Picture book. 4-7)