If You Were a Panda Bear

by Florence Minor, Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Overview

The authors of If You Were a Penguin, Wendell and Florence Minor, turn their attention to bears in the educational picture book If You Were a Panda Bear.
 
If You Were a Panda Bear introduces different types of bears to young children. Through the poems in this charming storybook, kids will learn that pandas are shy and eat bamboo, black bears love to climb trees, and grizzly bears can be up to ten feet tall. A section at the back includes even more fun animal facts.
 
The full-color illustrations are playful and bring the personality of each bear wonderfully to life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061950902
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/25/2013
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.34(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.44(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Florence Minor is the author of Christmas Tree!, illustrated by Wendell Minor, which Kirkus Reviews praised for its "imaginative Christmas trees and poetic, rhyming text." If You Were a Penguin, her second collaboration with Wendell, was selected by Pennsylvania for its "One Book, Every Young Child" early literacy program. If You Were a Panda Bear is her third picture book for children.

Wendell Minor is the illustrator of more than fifty award-winning picture books for children, including Mojave by Diane Siebert, Abe Lincoln Remembers by Ann Turner, The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow, and the New York Times bestseller Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin, as well as numerous books about the outdoors with his frequent collaborator, Jean Craighead George, including their classic Everglades.

The Minors live in Connecticut, where they share their home and studio with their cats, Sofie and Cindercat.

Wendell Minor is nationally known for the artwork he has created for over sixty award-winning children’s books. His many collaborators include Jean Craighead George, Robert Burleigh, Buzz Aldrin, Tony Johnston, Nikki Grimes, Mary Higgins Clark, and, last but not least, his wife, Florence. He is also the author and illustrator of My Farm Friends.

Editorial Reviews

A global array of bears parade by in this delightful story for the very young. A lovely title to engage the imaginations and interest of budding animal enthusiasts.” — Kirkus Reviews

Praise for If You Were a Penguin: “Wendell’s vibrant large-scale figures, set against bracing polar landscapes, have enough personality to captivate a crowd.” — ALA Booklist

Praise for If You Were a Penguin: “A playful and lightly informative look at the life of penguins...an excellent storytime addition.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Praise for If You Were a Penguin: “Wendell’s vibrant large-scale figures, set against bracing polar landscapes, have enough personality to captivate a crowd.

ALA Booklist

PreS-Gr 2—A picture-book introduction to the world's eight bear species. Similar in format to the Minors' If You Were a Penguin (HarperCollins, 2009), Panda Bear is written in rhymed quatrains that have minimal facts about each breed (e.g., a sun bear's long tongue helps it get honey; and grizzlies can be 10 feet tall and love to catch salmon with their paws and teeth). Each four-liner is divided between the one or two spreads allotted to each species. Skillfully detailed paintings show the variety in textures of the bears' fur-some soft, some wiry, others thick and fluffy. Facial close-ups of panda, sloth, black, moon, sun, and spectacled bears show intelligence and compassion. Because many of the poems pair a small fact or two with the nonsense of forced rhyme (e.g., "If you were a spectacled bear,/You'd have furry eyeglasses./And if you went to school,/You'd look smart in your classes"), libraries that purchase the book may want to consider cataloging it as a picture book. In contrast to the simple text, two appended pages of "Bear Fun Facts" and a half page of excellent "Bear Sources and Websites" are more appropriate for older children. Bob Barner's Bears! Bears! Bears! (Chronicle, 2010), an informational book that is also written in rhyme, ends with a fact about bear cubs of each species and a colorful map that shows where they live.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

A global array of bears parade by in this delightful story for the very young. Panda bears who eat bamboo and take long naps lead off. They are followed by bears of the sloth, polar, black, moon, sun, grizzly and spectacled variety. And the final entry is, of course, every child's favorite: smiling teddy bears nestled together and looking very much like the bears on the previous pages. The Minors previously collaborated on If You Were a Penguin (2009). Here, their verse is just as breezy and dotted with occasional bits of information. "If you were a sun bear, / You'd have a looooooooong tongue / to help you get honey. / Be careful--don't get stung!" The expansive double-page spreads show the bears in their natural settings; a polar bear stares into the icy water, and a black bear snoozes on a tree limb. The textured brush strokes create realistic and expressive images, while playful and colorful variations in the type add to the appeal. A lovely title to engage the imaginations and interest of budding animal enthusiasts. (bear facts, resources) (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews