SNOW BEARS

A snowy winter’s day provides fun and frolic for a mother bear and her cubs. Mother’s search of the frosty landscape surrounding her home locates her trio of once-brown cubs, each wearing a mantle of white. Thus begins an impromptu game of “where are the baby bears?” Mommy Bear enters whole-heartedly into the cubs’ imaginative play, noting that these little cubs behave in remarkably similar ways to her own little darlings. Throughout the day, the mother bear frequently stops to ponder the whereabouts of her missing cubs, to which the snowy trio jauntily respond, “We aren’t here, Mommy Bear.” Together, mother and children caper about in the powdery drifts, with each cub selecting a game. The biggest- and middle-sized bears choose boisterous winter activities; zooming down hills and engaging in mock snowball battles. Upon her turn, the smallest bear plaintively requests snug haven of their home, where, beside the cozy fire, the cubs shed their snowy disguises and resume their true personas. Fox-Davies’s (Bat Loves the Night, 2001, etc.) pencil and watercolor illustrations are realistically rendered, skillfully capturing the inherent appeal of the mother bear and the impish playfulness of her cubs without anthropomorphizing them. A captivating mixture of winter fun and warmly inviting illustrations, this is an ideal choice to cuddle up with on nippy winter days. (Picture book. 3-7)