Shh! Bears Sleeping

November 1, 2015
The simplest of narratives, conveyed in lulling rhymes, follows a mother black bear and her two cubs throughout the year. A tiny bluebird trills a note. "Spring is here / Bees hum / Bears wake up / Here they come." The newborn omnivores first search for food, overturning logs and splashing in the water. The cubs frolic and play. Then, suddenly, in a swift page turn, it is winter again: "Spring summer fall / All day long / Bears grow big / Bears grow strong / But in the fall / When leaves turn red / Bears know soon / It's time for bed." The bears burrow in for their long slumber. Winter lethargy (which is different than hibernation, as the appended note explains) certainly deserves the most focus in a work with such a soporific title. However, readers might wish that the interim seasons were explored a bit more fully. Johnson and Fancher's oil-painted bears are stunningly realistic, yet they also have a cozy fuzziness, wrapped in dark brown warmth. After the cubs sleep through the blanketing snow, the bluebird returns, completing the cycle with an echoing refrain that holds so much promise: "Here they come!" Short stanzas (with only a few rhythmic missteps) convey the languorous feeling of a bear's slumber. (Informational picture book. 3-6)

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December 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 2-Gorgeous oil paintings convey the changing cycles of the seasons as seen through the eyes of a black bear and her cubs. The spare text utilizes rhyme and conveys the passing of time: "Skinny bears/with winter hungries/gobble food/to fill up tummies/Berries, honey/Maybe bees/Bugs and grubs/In rotten trees." Mama bear and her two cubs lumber through beautifully painted landscapes as the olive greens, wheaten tans, and tawny yellows disappear rather quickly with a page turn that leads the bears and readers back into the chilly days of winter. "Night and day/day and night/Through winter cold/And winter light/And winter wind/And ice and snow/While blizzards storm/Bears lay low/Underground/Beneath the snow/Fast, fast/Fast asleep." The book completes its circular walk through the seasons with the same bluebird from the first page appearing at story's end to signal the return of spring. An informational spread follows the story, offering facts about black bears, and the process of hibernation. Pair this with other bear stories, such as April Pulley Sayre's Eat Like a Bear (Holt, 2013), Kevin Henkes's Old Bear (Greenwillow, 2008), and Philip and Erin Stead's Bear Has a Story to Tell (Roaring Brook, 2012), for an informational book bundle. VERDICT Beautiful pictures elevate this beyond the slightly saccharine rhyme.-Lisa Kropp, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

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