Bear in Love

by Daniel Pinkwater, Will Hillenbrand (Illustrator)

Overview

Could the bear have a secret friend? Who is leaving him surprises? The ever-lovable Daniel Pinkwater spins a funny and sweetly offbeat story.

Features an audio read-along performed by the author! One morning, the bear finds something just outside his cave. It is orange and long and pointy and has bushy green leaves at one end. And it’s sweet and crunchy! Where did it come from? Did someone leave it for him? Then there are two more of the sweet crunchy things the next morning! The bear knows that someone nice is leaving him these treats. If only he could discover who it is! Should he leave something tasty in return? With the help of Will Hillenbrand’s endearing illustrations, the inimitable Daniel Pinkwater spins a charming little mystery about unexpected kindnesses and finding that extra-special someone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763667955
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	05/14/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	37 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Daniel Pinkwater is the author of Mrs. Noodlekugel and many other books for children. Not all of his friends are human beings (the species to which Daniel Pinkwater belongs). He knows that friendship can be sweet and crunchy, even when the friend is quite different from oneself. Daniel Pinkwater lives in New York State.

Will Hillenbrand has written and illustrated dozens of books, including Don't Slam the Door! by Dori Chaconas, Baby Dragon by Amy Ehrlich, This Little Piggy by Jane Yolen, and Kiss the Cow! by Phyllis Root. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

About Me: Childhood, Family, Interests
I’m the youngest of four boys and I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. My mom, Alice, was a stay-at-home mom and my dad was a barber. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.
My favorite sport is baseball. I played baseball in the side yard with my brothers hour after hour. We also played on the same organized team. I love all four seasons, but my favorite is winter. I always loved how an overnight snow shower could paint the whole landscape white, changing it like magic. Then I would make a big snowman. A block and a half away from my home was my second home: the public library. There I met many new friends and they told me their stories. So I kept coming back for more and more and more. I fell in love with art in books at the library. I have one son and his name is Ian. Ian is a geologist. I’ve known my wife almost my entire life. I think we both fell in love with books together and have been in love with books ever since.

My Journey to Become a Writer/Illustrator
My mom said I was born with a pencil in my hand because as soon as I could hold a pencil, I started to draw. I’m still drawing. I didn’t have an art teacher until I was in public high school. Mr. Ertel taught me all about art. I wouldn’t be an artist without his help. After high school, I went to the Art Academy of Cincinnati. There I made new friends, other artists like me. I continued my education at Ohio State University, where I met Dr. Ken Marantz. Ken was the person who connected me to the world of picture books and gave me the wings to fly into the stories. Dr. Marantz and I became lifelong friends. I am now the illustrator-in-residence and writer-in-residence at Kent State University.

About My Work: My Books and Artistic Process
Illustrating a book is its own journey, whether you are drawing little piggies who eat roast beef or piggies having none. There’s always a lot of thinking and planning that goes into picture-making. I love illustrating books because it can take you forward or backward in time, even sideways. I get a chance to meet new characters. I also get to make friends with the authors of the books that I illustrate.

About My Work: Kids’ Reactions to My Books
I think young people and I have the same ideas about how we love the picture world in a story. Books and stories lighten us up. They illuminate the page and lighten up our minds and grow our imaginations.

Three Things You Didn’t Know about Me
1. You might not have known that I draw every day. Every day I draw because it makes me happy. Did you know that? You might have known that already.
2. My favorite fruit is blueberries. I think they might make me blue inside.
3. You may not have known that I have a learning disability. I’m dyslexic. Reading was difficult for me as a child and in a way it still is. But it didn’t hold me back from my dreams. In fact, I think in a way it helped me.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

The simple story’s design is nicely romanticized, with full-bleed, lightly sketched forest backgrounds spread out over long pages, with the placid action depicted in mixed-media browns and greens with gentle highlights. The book’s Pooh-like charm protects it from preciousness and makes for a tender tale about the satisfaction to be found in a fond, contented relationship.
—Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Pinkwater’s (Beautiful Yetta) impulsive, happy-go-lucky bear keeps finding carrots on a flat rock outside his cave, left by some anonymous well-wisher. After days of this, the bear places honeycomb on the rock as a lure (“He wanted to see who had left him the nice things”), and pretty soon there’s a full-scale war of random acts of kindness going on. In a nod to Pooh, Pinkwater’s bear sings to himself quite often—“Someone must like me/ Someone is nice/ Very good, yum yum yum/ Someone is nice”—and much attention is paid to the deliciousness of each treat. Hillen-brand’s (Kite Day) cheery mixed-media spreads draw little attention to themselves, and there isn’t a hint of menace or darkness. Only the pacing seems off: by the time the mystery is solved (spoiler: it’s a rabbit) the story is over, although it’s clear that the relationship is just beginning. Yet Pinkwater’s talent for creating loveable characters and his unalloyed sense of goodness make it work. Ages 2–6. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Hillenbrand’s soft earth-toned illustrations give us a sense of a cozy natural setting while his ragged bold lines give Bear a scruffy edge that keeps the story from being overly sweet. They are a perfect match for Pinkwater’s text, which is child-friendly in its predictable and sprightly repetition, with just a tinge of adult humor now and then. All of these ingredients will make it perfect for reading aloud, either to groups or to an audience of one, again and again.
—The Horn Book

A friendly little whodunit results in an unexpected romance between a bear and a bunny... There’s lots to love here.
—Kirkus Reviews

The bear and the rabbit are very appealing, and the book as a whole begs to be read in storytime, possibly with other tales of unusual friendships.
—School Library Journal

This friendship tale has cozy charm in spades; the gift-exchange plot is sweet, and the bear’s unassuming, childlike dialogue and taste for singing little songs to himself will win young listeners (and remind them of Winnie-the-Pooh).
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The simple story’s design is nicely romanticized, with full-bleed, lightly sketched forest backgrounds spread out over long pages, with the placid action depicted in mixed-media browns and greens with gentle highlights. The book’s Pooh-like charm protects it from preciousness and makes for a tender tale about the satisfaction to be found in a fond, contented relationship.
—Booklist

Extra-special could describe the book itself.
—Kirkus Reviews Children's Blog

From the Publisher

PreS—A bear awakes in his cave one morning and goes outside to look for food. On a rock nearby is an orange, pointy thing with green leaves at one end. He ventures to eat it and finds it, "Very good, yum, yum, yum; Very good indeed." After two more carrots are left on his rock, the bear decides to reciprocate with a something of his own-a honeycomb. He also tries to stay awake to see who the mysterious someone is who is leaving him presents, but he falls asleep instead. After two more exchanges, the bear and a shy bunny finally meet and contentedly share their mutual love of songs and food, on their way to what looks like a beautiful friendship. Pinkwater demonstrates a deft gift for writing for very young children, and the book is made more special by Hillenbrand's lovely pastel illustrations. They show the bear in the foreground in solid but subdued color against a delicate, barely discernible pattern of gray blue trees (and an occasional glimpse of bunny ears). The bear and the rabbit are very appealing, and the book as a whole begs to be read in storytime, possibly with other tales of unusual friendships.—Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA

School Library Journal

A friendly little whodunit results in an unexpected romance between a bear and a bunny. Bear lives in "a little cave, just big enough for him," but it turns out that he has room for companionship. One morning he comes across a carrot lying on a flat rock, and not sure what it is, the bear decides to take a nibble. Delighted, he walks through the woods singing a song evocative of Winnie-the-Pooh's hums. Two carrots appear the next day, and Bear begins to wonder who has left them. "Crunchy things! Three of them!" he exclaims on day three, and then he finds a whole pile of carrots on the fourth day. "Someone must like me to leave these good things," he muses, and then he stumbles across a honey tree and decides to bring a piece of honeycomb for his secret admirer. This act of reciprocity instigates an ongoing gift exchange, culminating when the bear finds a bunny hiding in a bush. Mutual admiration overflows as the no-longer-secret admirers offer appreciation for the gifts they exchanged and then join in song at book's end. While the story is awfully sweet, Hillenbrand's mixed-media illustrations are what distinguish this picture book. Faintly rendered backgrounds offset characters and foreground settings, lending a truly fresh look to the compositions. There's lots to love here. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews