Bears - Softcover

Krauss, Ruth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 059001546X ISBN 13: 9780590015462

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks, 1976

Synopsis

There's bears, bears everywheres! On the stairs and under chairs! Follow the rascally Max from Where the Wild Things Are in this new adventure about...Bears! There are 'bears, bears, everywheres' in this hilarious rhyming text, coupled with the classic illustration style of Sendak. 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. A perfectly surreal bedtime read for young children.

About this title

About the Author

This outstanding American illustrator and author was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1928, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland. Sendak's career as an illustrator began after a stint as a window dresser. He illustrated more than 40 books between 1951 and 1962. Where the Wild Things Are -- the book that made Sendak's name internationally, appeared in 1964, and its popularity has never waned.

From Booklist

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: Scholastic Paperbacks
• Publication date: 1976
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 059001546X
• ISBN 13: 9780590015462
• Binding: Paperback