1 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
“Oh let me be your Teddy Bear!” So goes an Elvis Presley rock-and-roll ditty of long ago.
Bears have become lovable creatures largely because of the Teddy Bear, but they are actually ferocious beasts that children (and adults) should avoid. But I digress. In a child’s world, a bear is cute and cuddly. Will this bear be the exception to the rule?
A Bear’s Story is a picture book, part of the Eva Zonnios Children’s Collection series. Eva herself did all the illustrations, simple watercolor pieces that children can attempt on their own. (The artwork is one of the come-ons of this book.)
The long winter months are over, and Brown Bear is just waking up from hibernation. He is now Big Brown Bear, taller and stronger than when he entered the cave, his winter home. Eager to feel the sunshine on his back, he steps out of the cave. Alas, he is startled by loud clanging and clashing sounds! He spies several men in big machines cutting down trees and razing his forest home. He is distraught over the prospect of losing the trees and his friends, the birds and the forest frogs. How can he stop the men from destroying his home? Is he up to the task, now that he is a lot bigger and stronger?
The book is extremely child-friendly. The text is in a large and clear font (adults will love it too!) for easy reading. The text and pictures are on facing pages, depicting the story in both words and images. Even very young children will grasp the gist of the story from the pictures. There are at most eight sentences to a page. The words used are generally simple, with a sprinkling of bigger words (e.g., glorious, curiously, challenge, and gingerly) for upgrading a child’s vocabulary.
There is much to learn from the book. First is the concept of hibernation. I myself learned a fact or two from consulting the internet about the concept. Second is about growing up; kids will grow to become adults and take on responsibilities. Third is the warmth of family love; Big Brown Bear recalls how his mother cared for him in his youth and taught him courage and confidence. Fourth is caring for the environment; the workers have to be stopped from wrecking the forest.
A lover of children’s books, I enjoyed this bear story. However, the book leaves much to be desired. I am a stickler for grammar rules insofar as children’s books are concerned. The main issue is on punctuation: commas, periods, quotation marks, and hyphens are either absent or present at the wrong time. The word “alongside” is spelled as “along side,” and “had gotten injured” is in the colloquial “had got injured.”
Some facts also need straightening out. The author refers to the bear’s “thick woolly coat.” My research shows that bears have fur, but no wool. “Struck wide open” is used erroneously as no force is used in that scene. The picture on page 39 is not convincing, considering that the leader and his workers are scared to death and end up running like hell.
Giving the characters catchy names other than Big Brown Bear and mother is also recommended to aid recall and add impact. Note the hilarious imagery that accompanies the name of the workers’ boss, Inspector Treestump.
The most disturbing flaw was the method used to drive away the villains. They were only doing their job which was to build a road. (It would have been different had they been illegal loggers.) The worst that Inspector Treestump did was to hurt the forest frog. Still, Big Brown Bear bullied them (and was smug and ready for a nap afterwards). I am afraid that children will get the wrong message: that bullying is fine when you are defending your territory. (In reality, I doubt that any amount of growling by wild animals would keep the road developers away for long.)
Owing to the flaws I mentioned, I am constrained to give this children’s book a rating of 1 out of 4 stars. While I can appreciate the many lessons to be learned from the book, the implied assent to bullying is something I cannot bear.
******
A Bear's Story
View: on Bookshelves
Like Miriam Molina's review? Post a comment saying so!