Spring Stinks (A Little Bruce Book)

by Ryan T. Higgins, Ryan T. Higgins (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Bruce the bear is back and this time with a healthy dose of skepticism around spring. With classic Ryan T. Higgins humor and illustrations, Ruth the bunny is on a mission to change Bruce’s mind — but will she be successful? Bruce and friends are always in season, so this is a perfect storytime read all year round.

This pint-sized LITTLE BRUCE BOOK is perfect for fans of the Mother Bruce board books.


Ruth the bunny is excited to share the smelly springtime smells of spring with Bruce! But what will Bruce think of all that stink?


"Higgins' sparse text is humorously juxtaposed with his signature, detail-packed, engaging illustrations. The mouse-sized treehouse and the despondent, dripping moose are especially delightful. Bruce's unibrow is practically a protagonist in and of itself. Ruth's exuberance plays off Bruce's disgruntledness like a sweet pear off gorgonzola." —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781368060912
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/05/2021
Series:	Mother Bruce Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	38,427
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Ryan T. Higgins (ryanthiggins.com) is an author and illustrator who likes the outdoors and cheese sandwiches. He is NOT a grumpy old black bear, but he DOES like making books about one—starting with the New York Times best-selling Mother Bruce, which received the E. B. White Read Aloud Award and the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor. Ryan is also the author of the #1 New York Times best-selling We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. He lives in Maine with his wife and kids . . . and a menagerie of pets.

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR 1 GRUMPY BRUCE

Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

PRAISE FOR BRUCE'S BIG FUN DAY

"A welcome addition."—School Library Journal

PRAISE FOR PEEK-A-BRUCE

"In the same league as any of the great children's classics: rich in detail, deft, smooth, elegant, and expressive. Part Are You My Mother? part The Odd Couple, all delightful."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2020-11-18
Ah, spring. It brings out the best in bears—unless the bear’s name is Bruce!

In this exploration of the character’s backstory, the book opens with Bruce as chirpy and full of bonhomie as a pterodactyl on a bad day. Ruth the bunny, however, is beside herself as she revels in the glories of the season. Pilfering Bruce’s basket, she insists on rubbing Bruce’s unappreciative nose in a cornucopia of scents (er—stinks). Grass? Daisies? Wet moose? “ ‘Grrrr!’ grumbles Bruce.” One after another, the fresh and abundant offerings of nature are met with Bruce’s ringing approval—well, more like a grudging tolerance—actually, a resounding, “Rrrr!” Wait a minute! Is that honey? Bruce likes honey, doesn’t he? But then a bee makes a “beeeeeeeline” straight for Bruce’s “beeeeeeehind.” He careens tail over teakettle, much to Ruth’s delight, down a grassy hill until he lands, honey-smeared, on his banged-up head right in the path of a—skunk! Spring stinks. Higgins’ sparse text is humorously juxtaposed with his signature, detail-packed, engaging illustrations. The mouse-sized treehouse and the despondent, dripping moose are especially delightful. Bruce’s unibrow is practically a protagonist in and of itself. Ruth’s exuberance plays off Bruce’s disgruntledness like a sweet pear off gorgonzola. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-14-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

The energy snapping within each action-packed frame adds to the rollicking fun Bruce is definitely not having. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews