Bear in the Air

Starred review from April 12, 2010
The stuffed animal carried away on a long, unexpected journey is a perennially popular theme; here, it’s illustrated with delightful attention to period detail by Bates (The Dog Who Belonged to No One
). The baby who owns the unfortunate teddy bear is accompanied by a young mother in wellies, a polka-dot skirt, and a snug cloche hat for their boardwalk stroll at some pre-WWII seaside resort town. Bates works in roughly sketched pencil and soft, lustrously shaded watercolors, evoking a lost, gentler age. Meyers’s (Puppies! Puppies! Puppies!
) verse is sturdy, obedient to its metric structure: “This is the dog that found the bear,/ Shook it and tossed it high in the air,/ Carried it down to the sandy shore,/ Trotted away with the ribbon it wore.” Bates honors each person, creature, or force of nature the bear encounters (from sailor to seal to sea breeze) in stately picture frames that appear at the start of each leg of the bear’s journey under the sea, up into the sky, and eventually—to readers’ relief—into a neighbor’s yard to be rescued by its owner. Ages 4–8.

May 1, 2010
PreS-Mother, Baby, and teddy bear go out for a stroll along the boardwalk one summer day. When the bear falls out of the buggy and is lost, in plain sight, he has numerous adventures before being reunited with the child. The fuzzy stuffed animal travels by dog, wave, fishing net, seal, and pelican before landing in a woman's backyard and being hung on the line to dry, right in the path of the mother and her son. Told in rhyming couplets, this story is similar to Sarah Hayes's "This Is the Bear" (Candlewick, 1999). Words are almost unnecessary as the pencil and watercolor illustrations, in appealing beach tones of blue, brown, and tan, tell the story of the lost, bewildered-looking bear and his surprising journey. Readers can spot a small red crab that takes part in the escapade and scuttles away only when bear and baby are reunited. A sweet story that will capture the imaginations of young children."Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2010
Preschool-K A young mother puts her baby and his teddy bear into an elegant pram and wheels them along a boardwalk overlooking the sea. When Bear falls to the ground, a dog grabs him and romps down the beach. A wave pulls the teddy bear into the water, a seal takes him deep below the surface, and a pelican swoops him up into the sky, dropping him on land. A lady hangs Bear out to dry on her clothesline, where the bemused Mother and happy Baby find him. Told in graceful, rhyming couplets, the story of Bears adventures unfolds in a pleasant manner. The pencil-and-watercolor illustrations, which create a 1920s setting, feature nicely proportioned human and animal characters drawn with energy and expression. Young children will find plenty to enjoy in the pictures, including a little red crab that tags along with Bear and, near the end, a birds-eye-view map featuring landmarks and characters that will help viewers retrace the teddy bears journey. A handsome picture book with a satisfying story and artwork as fresh as a sea breeze.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)