YOU’RE A BEAR

A young child puts on a parent-sized hooded coat and presto—she’s a grizzly bear, squeezing between living room “boulders,” rambling through a “midnight breeze” from the refrigerator (“You’re a bold bear / with a nose as cold as cheese . . . ”), checking alertly for fish in the tub, then lumbering off to slumber in her bedroom’s “hidden lair.” The bear assumes visible form in vignettes beneath each block of text, opposite full-page scenes of the child—whose features reveal Asian descent, unlike those of the rest of her family—happily grimacing and prowling while parents and big brother look on indulgently. A natural for bedtime sharing, with a rhythmic, partly rhymed text, cozily soft-lined illustrations with plush-like painted surfaces, and a subtly presented backstory. (Picture book. 5-7)