Review Detail

BEAR IS A BEAR is the story of a comforting toy and all the many places it holds in a child's heart. Bear is everything to a young girl, who uses him as a tissue, but also as her protector during a thunderstorm, a scientist when they play astronomer, and more... until she grows up. Then Bear is packed away, but Bear is remembered. Bear is again brought out to be a new friend to the original girl's daughter.

What I loved: With simple language describing all the things Bear is to the young girl to whom Bear belongs, this manages to be a really heartfelt and lovely story. Bear is everything to the person who loves them. The story chronicles all the fun, joy, sadness, and other feelings of childhood through the view of a comforting toy. This is quite an evocative story with all the feels throughout and then when Bear is put away - wow, such feelings. The ending where Bear is now a new friend to another young girl is just beautiful.

The illustrations accompany the text perfectly with all the emotions and magic of childhood captured throughout. Bear and the girl really have a special relationship and the imaginative images capture it perfectly. The text is brief on each page, and the illustrations carry equal weight in telling the story. This could work well for a wide range of ages, and it has great appeal to the adults who will read it aloud to young children - something they can also enjoy reading.

What left me wanting more: As a super small thing, Bear is sometimes a tissue, and this includes the gross snot in the image. Children will definitely get some giggles, but there's a bit of an ick factor with the green color.

Final verdict: Imaginative and heartfelt, BEAR IS A BEAR is a lovely picture book about the relationship between child and beloved toy. Recommend for parents and children to share together.