​The Bear’s Surprise
Benjamin Chaud
 
On a fine spring day, a little French bear comes out of his den to search for his father. Where can he be? Little Bear’s quest takes him through a forest teeming with new baby animals, deep under a cave full of burrows, then through a cutout hole in a large red pipe. Turn the page and find circus people doing their laundry and practicing their acts. Father Bear’s inside the huge red tent (it’s a very tall book), as a stilt-walker and plate-spinner! The little adventurer joins his father (and Mama Bear) in a thrilling circus show, where they share the spotlight and Little Bear gets shot from a cannon. Abundant white space lets Chaud fill the pages with swirls of performers, audience members, even circus tigers. He says he draws with joy and laughter, basing characters on celebrities and friends. Mama Bear brings a special surprise of her own--can you guess what?
2015, Ages 4 to 8

Check it out from your library using the library catalog. Donate to an improved Sebastopol Regional Library here.

Recommended by: Barbara Talcroft
Barbara Talcroft reviews children’s books professionally for childrenslit.com and for Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database.  She has a Master’s degree in International Children’s Literature.  She also has many years’ experience as a teacher.  Barbara is one of the founders of LANTERN and its past chairperson.

Eat Like a Bear
April Pulley Sayre
Illustrations by Steve Jenkins
 
April’s the month when bears emerge from hibernation. Follow this hungry female brown bear as she searches for food after four months of none. But where? She starts with tender green horsetail stems and tries a frozen bison carcass. By May, she can find dandelions and squirmy ants. She hunts a stray elf calf, but no luck. Imagine you’re a bear--eating, hunting, and bathing like the bear in an icy stream-- and catching a firm, fresh trout. Track her through the months as she eats roots, cutworm moths, huckleberries, even a squirrel’s pinecone stash (crunch!). Artist Jenkins takes young bear-lovers up close with his exquisite torn- and cut-paper collages, using handmade Mexican paper from fig-tree bark for the bear’s shaggy, shaded fur. By November, the bear must settle in for hibernation again--a last peek into her den reveals a midwinter surprise! Learn more about bears and food from Sayre’s informative endnotes.
2013, Ages 3 to 8

Check it out from your library using the library catalog. Donate to an improved Sebastopol Regional Library here.

Recommended by: Barbara Talcroft
Barbara Talcroft reviews children’s books professionally for childrenslit.com and for Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database.  She has a Master’s degree in International Children’s Literature.  She also has many years’ experience as a teacher.  Barbara is one of the founders of LANTERN and its past chairperson.