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MY BIG BEAR, MY LITTLE BEAR AND ME

From the Somos Ocho series

Two bears but not much there.

Two bears are decidedly better than one.

The little protagonist puts a hat on a stuffed bear, then bends forward a bit so that a big bear in a woolly green coat can perform the same service. The two walk hand in hand out into the snowy day. The big bear hoists the child and stuffed bear onto broad shoulders. The stuffed bear rests against a toadstool while the child makes a snowman. Later, both child and stuffed bear are wrapped in the big bear’s coat for warmth. The stuffed bear helps the child make friends with several animals, including a rabbit and a squirrel. Child and toy sled joyfully down a snowy hill before the trio heads home. “If you have a big bear and a little bear, you’ll never lose your way.” Up to this point, readers have seen the big bear only from the back; at this point they discover that the furry ears and head are only a hat. It’s not a bear at all but evidently the child’s caregiver, white like the protagonist. The stark, wintertime illustrations and minimal, repetitive text introduce a sweet premise but ultimately add up to very little. Only the youngest will be surprised by the reveal—and they may be disappointed that that nurturing bear is not ursine after all. This import from Spain publishes simultaneously with the Spanish-language original.

Two bears but not much there. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019

ISBN: 978-84-17123-50-5

Page Count: 36

Publisher: NubeOcho

Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019

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WITH ALL MY HEART

Sweet.

A caregiving bear shares with its cub how love has defined their relationship from the first moment and through the years as the cub has grown.

With rhymes and a steady rhythm that are less singsong-y than similar books, Stansbie seems to have hit a sweet spot for this offering on the I-love-you-always shelf. Readers follow the adult and child as they share special moments together—a sunset, a splash in a pond, climbing a tree, a snuggle—and the adult tells the child that the love it feels has only grown. Stansbie also takes care not to put promises in the adult bear’s mouth that can’t be delivered, acknowledging that physical proximity is not always possible: “Wherever you are, / even when we’re apart… // I’ll love you forever / with all of my heart.” The large trim size helps the sweet illustrations shine; their emphasis is on the close relationship between parent and child. Shaped peekaboo windows offer glimpses of preceding and succeeding pages, images and text carefully placed to work whatever the context. While the die cuts on the interior pages will not hold up to rough handling, they do add whimsy and delight to the book as a whole: “And now that you’re bigger, / you make my heart sing. / My / beautiful / wonderful / magical / thing.” Those last three adjectives are positioned in leaf-shaped cutouts, the turn of the page revealing the roly-poly cub in a pile of leaves, three formed by the die-cuts. Opposite, three vignettes show the cub appreciating the “beautiful,” the “wonderful,” and the “magical.”

Sweet. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-68412-910-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Silver Dolphin

Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019

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I'M A HARE, SO THERE!

Animated and educational.

A hare and a ground squirrel banter about the differences between related animals that are often confused for one another.

Jack is “no Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail,” but a “H-A-R-E, hare!” Like sheep and goats, or turtles and tortoises, rabbits and hares may look similar, but hares are bigger, their fur changes color in the winter, and they are born with their eyes wide open. As the ground squirrel (not to be mistaken for a chipmunk (even though Jack cheekily calls it “Chippie”) and Jack engage in playful discussion about animals, a sneaky coyote prowls after them through the Sonoran Desert. This picture book conveys the full narrative in spirited, speech-bubbled dialogue set on expressive illustrations of talking animals. Dark outlines around the characters make their shapes pop against the softly blended colors of the desert backgrounds. Snappy back-and-forth paired with repetition and occasional rhyme enhances the story’s appeal as a read-aloud. As the story progresses, the colors of the sky shift from dawn to dusk, providing subtle, visual bookends for the narrative. One page of backmatter offers a quick guide to eight easily confused pairs, and a second turns a subsequent exploration of the book into a seek-and-find of 15 creatures (and one dessert) hidden in the desert. Unfortunately, while most of the creatures from the seek-and-find appear in poses that match the illustrations in the challenge, not all of them are consistently represented. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 53.3% of actual size.)

Animated and educational. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-358-12506-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

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