Readers will chuckle at the discrepancy between the text—in which Grandfather Bear describes how well-behaved his visiting grandbears are—and the illustrations, which clearly depict the little darlings getting into all sorts of mischief behind his back. This clever juxtaposition allows children to absorb the story on two levels, without requiring the text to spell out the contrast. While Grandfather muses to himself how little trouble his houseguests are, goes upstairs to make sure they’re not afraid of noises in his creaky house (noises the little bears have made themselves, of course), and chides himself for leaving his door ajar, the grandbears are busy jumping on his bed, fixing a midnight snack, and sneaking outdoors before finally climbing back up to bed. Warm pastel illustrations portray a jolly Grandfather Bear with reading glasses perched on the end of his nose and slippers on his feet and two young, plump, adorable bears, whose innocent facial expressions belie their harmlessly naughty nature. Grandpa’s cozy log cabin is reminiscent of a treehouse, with stumps for tables and tree trunks with leaves growing out of them for posts. A testament to unconditional grandparent love, inventively presented. (Picture book. 3-5)
