OLD BEAR’S SURPRISE PAINTING

Old Bear teaches his fellow toys (and young readers, too) a worthy lesson about the benefits of teamwork. It’s an arts and crafts kind of day for the bear and his entourage as Old Bear’s painting of Little Bear inspires everyone to try his hand at the easel. The dilemma arises when there is only one picture frame remaining and the group refuses to paint together. Each toy decides to paint its own patterned picture. Hissey’s (Hoot, 1997, etc.) amiable crew has a marvelously messy time creating, with great sploshes and splashes of paint everywhere. Yet when the paintings turn out more erratic than intended, everyone seems destined for disappointment until Old Bear’s clever idea saves the day. A collage made from pieces of each painting creates a picture they can all admire. Hissey delivers her gentle moral in a manner easily accessible to preschooler readers, who observe that cooperation is often the key to splendid success. Her illustrations of the beloved stuffed animals are amazingly authentic; images layered upon each other add dimension to the pictures while the vivid hues capture little ones’ attention. Fans old and new will delight in the return of the pals. (Picture book. 3-8)