BEAR IN PINK UNDERWEAR

Unrealistic in several ways but good at least for sniggers, this follow-up to Bear in Underwear (2010) features plenty of views of Bear on the soccer pitch clad in nothing below the waist but undies. The tighty whities of the previous episode give way to dinky pinkies after Bear washes them with his red jersey, but since they’re his lucky underwear he bears the continuing mockery of the opposing squad—“You look like a girl!” “You stink and your shorts are pink!” etc.—to score the winning goal. Not only do the losers change their opinion (“Wow, pink’s alright!”), but Bear’s own team members all don pink BVDs in solidarity: “Pink isn’t yucky! It’s super cool and super lucky!” While there is some charm to the notion of a soccer team that includes a beaver, a hedgehog and Big Foot, it isn't enough to sustain a whole lot of investment on the part of young readers. Logically minded children will wonder why Bear’s lucky (and still-white—this is before the laundry tragedy) undies are the only things gleaming white as Bear and his teammates stand, "covered in mud, including Bear and his lucky underwear." A sliding panel on the front cover that drops Bear’s shorts with the pull of a tab is the high (low) point of this dismal one-joker. (Picture book. 4-6)