Bears - Hardcover

Krauss, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 006027994X ISBN 13: 9780060279943

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2005

Synopsis

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S ONE HUNDRED TITLES FOR READING AND SHARING LIST PICK

With just 27 words, the inimitable Ruth Krauss created a charming little universe.
Now Maurice Sendak has turned her bears into a troupe of players in a slapstick comedy starring a familiar boy in a wolf suit.

About this title

About the Authors

Ruth Krauss was one of the most widely celebrated children’s book authors of all time. Her long list of award-winning books includes The Carrot Seed, The Happy Day, A Hole Is to Dig, Open House for Butterflies, A Very Special House, and many others. Her books continue to be read and cherished by children throughout the world.

Maurice Sendak’s books have sold over 50 million copies and have been translated into more than 40 languages. He received the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are and is the creator of such classics as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, Higglety Pigglety Pop!, and Nutshell Library. In 1970 he received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, in 1983 he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, and in 1996 he received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America. In 2003 Sendak received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an annual international prize for children’s literature established by the Swedish government.

From the Back Cover

With just 27 words, the inimitable Ruth Krauss created a charming little universe.

Now Maurice Sendak has turned her bears into a troupe of players in a slapstick comedy starring a familiar boy in a wolf suit.

Reviews

PreS-K. Before Sendak's early collaborations with Ruth Krauss, she wrote a simple picture book called Bears (1948), using only 26 words that were illustrated in black and brown by Phyllis Rowand. Now, Sendak uses the same 26 words (changing their order slightly and adding a few more in speech balloons) and illustrates them in more complex and colorful pictures to entertain another generation. The old artwork focused on the bears and their activities mentioned in the text, but the new illustrations add a dramatic subplot and a human element: a distinctively Sendakian human who looks a lot like Max in his wolf suit. This being Sendak, there is also a dog, here stealing a teddy bear and leading the boy on a merry chase through the rest of the book. And there are two visual elements that probably only Sendak could get away with: a teddy bear hung by the neck on the dedication page (rescued by his theatrically tearful owner) and a character smoking. The drawings are expressive and the tone is generally- playful-, though with a dark undertone. The relative complexity of the illustrations takes the book beyond the very young audience of the original edition. In fact, the whole drama may be best appreciated by an older audience, one that knows Sendak's other books and will enjoy a reprise of beloved, familiar elements. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 006027994X
• ISBN 13: 9780060279943
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Sendak Maurice
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24