Two bears but not much there.
Two bears are decidedly better than one.
The little protagonist puts a hat on a stuffed bear, then bends forward a bit so that a big bear in a woolly green coat can perform the same service. The two walk hand in hand out into the snowy day. The big bear hoists the child and stuffed bear onto broad shoulders. The stuffed bear rests against a toadstool while the child makes a snowman. Later, both child and stuffed bear are wrapped in the big bear’s coat for warmth. The stuffed bear helps the child make friends with several animals, including a rabbit and a squirrel. Child and toy sled joyfully down a snowy hill before the trio heads home. “If you have a big bear and a little bear, you’ll never lose your way.” Up to this point, readers have seen the big bear only from the back; at this point they discover that the furry ears and head are only a hat. It’s not a bear at all but evidently the child’s caregiver, white like the protagonist. The stark, wintertime illustrations and minimal, repetitive text introduce a sweet premise but ultimately add up to very little. Only the youngest will be surprised by the reveal—and they may be disappointed that that nurturing bear is not ursine after all. This import from Spain publishes simultaneously with the Spanish-language original.
Two bears but not much there. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-84-17123-50-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Sweet.
A caregiving bear shares with its cub how love has defined their relationship from the first moment and through the years as the cub has grown.
With rhymes and a steady rhythm that are less singsong-y than similar books, Stansbie seems to have hit a sweet spot for this offering on the I-love-you-always shelf. Readers follow the adult and child as they share special moments together—a sunset, a splash in a pond, climbing a tree, a snuggle—and the adult tells the child that the love it feels has only grown. Stansbie also takes care not to put promises in the adult bear’s mouth that can’t be delivered, acknowledging that physical proximity is not always possible: “Wherever you are, / even when we’re apart… // I’ll love you forever / with all of my heart.” The large trim size helps the sweet illustrations shine; their emphasis is on the close relationship between parent and child. Shaped peekaboo windows offer glimpses of preceding and succeeding pages, images and text carefully placed to work whatever the context. While the die cuts on the interior pages will not hold up to rough handling, they do add whimsy and delight to the book as a whole: “And now that you’re bigger, / you make my heart sing. / My / beautiful / wonderful / magical / thing.” Those last three adjectives are positioned in leaf-shaped cutouts, the turn of the page revealing the roly-poly cub in a pile of leaves, three formed by the die-cuts. Opposite, three vignettes show the cub appreciating the “beautiful,” the “wonderful,” and the “magical.”
Sweet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68412-910-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
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