While young ones will recognize Bear’s fears and appreciate the reassuring endings, this Bear doesn’t measure up to the most...
Three stories originally published as separate 40-page readers are repackaged as one longer chapter book.
In 1996 Kirkus described the title story as “A depressing fable.” Twenty years later the toy bear’s longing for a perfect father is even less appealing, with its pat, predictable, and cloying resolution. In the second story, a “Used-Up Bear” (originally published in 1998) imagines the worst—being discarded. Other, newer stuffed animals compound his distress with predictions that his owner, a white girl named Clara, will choose one of them to replace him. In the end, Clara refurbishes Bear with a flannel “bear suit” done in a red that is rather jarring against the simple line-and-watercolor art of pastel blues, lilacs, and yellows that predominate. In “Lonesome Bear” (2001), this rather insecure stuffed animal panics when he wakes up and sees that Clara is gone. As he searches for her he meets a rabbit who helps him make “Lost Girl” posters and a cat who tries to convince both of them that being on your own is really better. Predictably, Clara has also been searching for Bear and brings him, along with the rabbit and the cat, home to a cozy dinner.
While young ones will recognize Bear’s fears and appreciate the reassuring endings, this Bear doesn’t measure up to the most famous of anxiety-ridden bears. Winnie the Pooh is still a better choice for independent readers. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63322-370-7
Page Count: 131
Publisher: Seagrass/Quarto
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Charming.
An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.
Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.
Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781665942485
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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