OTIS KNOWS (HOW TO BE A BEAR)

An elder does things his own way.

In this playful ode to both snoozing and snacking, an old, slow bear named Otis faces the tremendous challenge of awakening from hibernation and eating enough to bulk up for next winter’s sleep. Scanlon and Brockenbrough's prose is direct and intentional; in winter, Alaskan bears “do not drink. They do not eat. They do not venture into the snow-white world.” When they wake, “do they still know how to be bears?” Happily, they do! They emerge from their dens to push and play and fill their empty bellies with salmon—to “grab and gobble and sometimes fight.” Otis, however, snoozes deep into summer, when he hobbles out “skinny and wobbly and old.” Eating is essential for Otis’ survival—“if he doesn’t get fat, this will be his final summer.” Otis does things his own way; between meals, while other bears frolic, he rests, knowing that “what does matter is being a bear in his own way, in his own time.” When summer ends, he is enormous and glorious—“the heartiest, fattest of all.” Laberis’ illustrations celebrate nature with grace and humor—rabbits, moose, butterflies, bees, and half-consumed salmon abound. Scanlon and Brockenbrough drew inspiration from an actual large, elder bear observed in Katmai National Park; backmatter discusses the real-life Otis and introduces the essentials of hibernation.

An engaging, humorous tale cleverly grounded in natural realities.