BEAR'S BUSY FAMILY

A simple rhyming text and appealing illustrations will capture the very youngest of children, despite a rather innocuous title. A family of bears goes about their work: a grandmother bakes bread, a grandfather makes pottery, a father gardens, a mother sews, and so on. The narrator describes each in terms of the relationship—brother, sister, aunt, etc.—and each activity in terms of tactile experience: “Touch the plums/my sister picks/Taste the bowl/my brother licks.” The pictures are boldly colored, with an effervescent, whimsical line, as the bears cook, prepare, and make music for, it turns out, the baby’s birthday. Cats, birds, mice, and squirrels populate the indoor and outdoor scenes as wiggly grace notes, and the bears’ pointy faces and large fuzzy bodies are reassuringly cozy. (Picture book. 2-6)