A BEAR, A MAN, AND A DONUT VAN

What happens when a bear hijacks a van filled with pastries?

The tale’s minimal text, made up of single words and extremely short phrases, nevertheless reveals an exciting, humorous storyline—a rare feat. As a friendly, cartoonish bear lazily awakens in a cave, two words appear, printed clearly over a dawning sky: “a bear.” The next page shows a dark-skinned adult (“a man”) awakening in bed next to his lighter-skinned partner. Above the bedstead, readers glimpse a portrait of the couple and six children; through the window, a pink-and-blue van. Outside the house, the man begins driving without noticing that the hungry bear has slipped into his van. Rhyming, rhythmic verse continues to repeat the initial nouns, while adding adjectives: “a happy man,” “a happy bear,” “a sticky happy donut bear.” Not until the driver checks his rearview mirror does he discover the unwelcome hitchhiker. The action escalates as both characters, now terrified, lose control: “a panicked man,” “a bear in van,” “a donut man without a plan.” The treats fly, the bear roars, the man prays as his van sways, and a herd of equally funny-looking, googly-eyed moose appear. No matter how dire the situation appears, Bernstrom and Scott keep the tale light and hilarious right to the end. Cleverly rendered rhymes and repetition encourage pre-readers to memorize the words and beginning readers to shine, while the art will tickle their funny bones.

Short and utterly sweet.