The Bear in My Bed

June 1, 2018

PreS-K-As she did in The Whale in My Swimming Pool, Wan plays on a child's enjoyment of absurd situations to create a surprising and humorous story. After reconciling himself to having a whale in his pool, a boy returns to his room to find a huge bear cuddled up with his teddy on his bed. As the boy tries to get himself and the bear ready for bed, the bear ignores his simple directions. The bear pulls out toys when the boy asks him to clean up, splashes water in the bathtub, can't brush his teeth properly, eats books rather than reading them, puts his underwear on his head, and takes up the entire bed. Readers will love the bear's silly antics, the boy's mounting exasperation, and his resourcefulness. Wan's flat, simple illustrations bring a soothing feeling to the bedtime story and perfectly capture the emotions of the boy and the bear. The conclusion of the story-the boy, the bear, and the boy's mother are awakened by noisy hares all over the kitchen-suggests that Wan is writing a third story with unusual animal antics. VERDICT This book will be most appreciated by readers of The Whale in My Swimming Pool, but all children will enjoy the playful interactions between the boy and the bear.-Sally James, South Hillsborough Elementary School, CA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
The protagonist of Wan's The Whale in My Swimming Pool (2015) returns to find another surprise.The opening endpapers promise fun, with repeating images of a bed-sized bear and a small child rotating through precarious configurations, trying to get comfortable in a bed for one. Sure enough, silliness ensues. The child tries to get them both ready for bed, but the bear doesn't seem to get it: "I said potty time, not party time!" remonstrates the child. Spread after spread of shenanigans culminates in bedtime and a moment of quiet...before a boisterous twist conclusion. It's a promising premise, bolstered by the author/illustrator's beloved graphic art. In addition to welcoming back the racially indeterminate, brown-haired protagonist, readers of The Whale in My Swimming Pool will enjoy spying a familiar face through a bedroom window. Bold lines and clean, colorful shapes bring the exuberant naughtiness of bedtime struggles to life--a full-page illustration of a gleeful, underpants-as-headwear-bedecked bear, twirling in ribbons of toilet paper pretty much sums it up. The story, though, never quite moves beyond a collection of silly moments. In a missed opportunity for suspenseful page turns and engaging pacing, the text, primarily composed of the child's comments to the bear, appears in the same spreads as the bear's mischievous misunderstandings, causing it to read flat.Though gratifying for fans of the illustrator's art, this bear doesn't otherwise quite earn its space in the bed. (Picture book. 2-6)

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