BROWN PAPER TEDDY BEAR
by Catherine Allison & illustrated by Neil Reed
A trite tale designed for the holiday gift market, printed on stiff brown paper, cut to a shelf-dominating trim size, and featuring a near-life-sized image of a teddy on the cover. A “magical light” having entered her room, blue-eyed, flaxen-haired Jessica wakes to find a plush bear, inexpertly wrapped in paper, that comes to life and flies her to a playroom filled with similarly animate, old-fashioned toys—all her size or larger. With monotonous delight, Jessica marches with the toy soldiers, rides a train, dances with a (girl) doll, plays with a wooden dog, and watches a monkey “perform silly tricks just for her,” then gets flown back to bed so that she can tell her Grandpa all about it in the morning. Reed depicts figures with close-up, detailed realism (adding the occasional shiny highlight), but there aren’t any real feelings or characters here. (Picture book. 5-7)