McPhail’s two good souls, Big Brown Bear and Rat, are down by the riverside, picnicking on cucumber sandwiches. Bear is thunderstruck to learn that it’s his birthday: “ ‘Really?’ asked Bear. ‘How do you know?’ ‘I remembered from last year,’ said Rat. ‘Birthdays don’t change. They are always on the same day.’ ‘Amazing,’ said Bear.” When a rogue rowboat comes downstream, Bear and Rat hop in and start pulling upstream. A hat comes into view, drifting on the water, then a fishing pole, then a gentleman on a log—the boat’s absentee owner. Bear and Rat help the man aboard, whereupon the boat makes its leisurely way to the bottom of the river. But no one’s spirit does, especially after Rat gives Bear his birthday gift, which is not a boat. McPhail is on form; his story has an ingenuous, hand-holding sweetness that easily gives way to a comfortable embrace. The artwork is dreamily soft at the edges, with colors so fruity you could spread them on toast. (Picture book. 3-7)
