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BEAR CHILD

Name: BEAR CHILD
Author: Geoff Mead
ISBN: 978-1-78250-476-4

by Geoff Mead ; illustrated by Sanne Dufft ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

A sweet bedtime book with some significant gaps.

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A conversation about bear folk—creatures half-human and half-bear—takes place between a little girl and her father.

Ursula, wearing a nightgown and cuddling a teddy bear, sits with her father in an oversized chair. When she asks Daddy to tell her about the bear folk, he begins with the myth of how today’s bears descended from “Numitorum, the Great Bear of the Northern Sky.” The faded wallpaper behind the pair blurs into the next page’s star-studded sky, with gentle-looking polar bears moving along a path “woven from sunrays and moonbeams.” An apparently nightly ritual has begun. Every page turn brings text with a deft balance of exciting, often funny ideas and lulling rhythms, as readers learn that bear folk are still in the world today; they continue to live “extraordinary lives” until the Great Bear calls them back. The art, done in a muted, full-color palette, with graceful lines and gentle watercolors, is well-matched in tone. The pages are full of sweet-faced children, adults, and bears—implying that bear folk morph easily between their identities. Though Ursula and Daddy present white, other contemporary bear folk appear to be of many races. Friendships, a life well-lived, ecology, mortality—all are touched upon lightly as the child (whose name means “little bear,” of course) drifts into sleep. Disappointingly, the text—unlike the author's own website—gives no source for the tale the father tells: an elaboration of a core story from the Khanty people of Siberia; nor does the artwork hint of it, instead dressing early bear people in attire reminiscent of Native American stereotypes.

A sweet bedtime book with some significant gaps. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-78250-476-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Floris

Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE LEAF THIEF

by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021

A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.

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A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.

Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.

A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)