BEAR FOR A DAY

Motorcycles and bears—two very different things that somehow go great together.

“If I were a bear for a day,” the book begins, “my name would be Bear.” A pair of sleepy eyes open, and readers see the world from the perspective of a thoroughly civilized, mechanically inclined ursine protagonist. “I would eat breakfast…and wonder where my best friend, Mouse, had gone off to,” continues our narrator. “Well, I’d better go find him, I would think.” That means hopping on a motorcycle and going into town. Mouse is nowhere in sight, until an unseen character listening to this tale (and who’s been interrupting periodically) suggests that hot-air balloons could play a role, and voilà! Bear finds Mouse hanging off a rope dangling from a balloon, requiring a daring rescue. Eventually, we learn that our narrator is, in fact, a tan-skinned child named Corey who’s been delivering a class report (as racially diverse classmates interject suggestions and criticisms). Visually, the book adopts a distinct point of view in much the same way that Chris Raschka did with New Shoes (2018). Youngsters get to fully experience the bear’s motorcycle adventures, leaning into curves on picturesque highways and byways. The twin fantasies of beardom and cycle glory pair shockingly well together, helped in no small part by Tabor’s inventive framing and gently beautiful art of rolling hills and epic skies.

Better than virtual reality, this is one trip begging to be taken on repeat.