Snow Bears - Hardcover

Waddell, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076361906X ISBN 13: 9780763619060

Publisher: Candlewick, 2002

Synopsis

Acclaimed storyteller Martin Waddell returns with a warm winter’s tale of three little bears who love to pretend - and a Mommy Bear who loves to play along.

"But where are my baby bears?" Mommy Bear asked.
"I don’t know where we are," said the biggest snow bear.

When Mommy Bear comes to look for her baby bears, she finds three snow bears instead. They don’t look quite like her bears, but they do like to slide down the snowy slope and throw snowballs, just like her bears do. . . . Little readers will love being in on the charming snow bear game, illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies with all the crisp beauty of a snowy day.

About this title

About the Author

Martin Waddell is the author of many well-loved books for children, including CAN'T YOU SLEEP, LITTLE BEAR? - one of four tales about Big Bear and Little Bear - FARMER DUCK, OWL BABIES, WEBSTER J. DUCK, and WHO DO YOU LOVE? He got the idea of writing SNOW BEARS, he says, when "I was watching some children pretending to be someone else, and I thought, what a beautiful story."

Sarah Fox-Davies has illustrated many picture books for children, including LITTLE CAIRBOU, which she also wrote; WALK WITH A WOLF by Janni Howker; and BAT LOVES THE NIGHT by Nicola Davies. She says that while doing research for the illustrations of SNOW BEARS, she "saw a great many snowballs being thrown and ate really big piles of toast by the fireside."

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Young children will easily associate with the pretend game that three little bears play. When their mother comes outside, the snow-covered cubs tell her that they are "snow bears," and she asks where her babies are. "I don't know where we are," says the biggest one. "We aren't here, Mummy Bear," says the littlest one. So, she frolics with them instead. Eventually, the smallest one gets cold and they all go inside for hot toast, where their covering melts and they reveal that they were just pretending. The story is slight and not particularly original, but youngsters are likely to enjoy the repeated refrain about not having seen Mummy's bears, and the very predictability of the text is reassuring. The color illustrations are pleasant, with large, realistically drawn bears, making the fact that they live in a house rather than in a cave seem somewhat incongruous. However, their activities work equally well for bears or preschoolers, and the large, fuzzy creatures on the snowy background are appealing. This title does not live up to the caliber of the author's Owl Babies or Can't You Sleep Little Bear (both Candlewick, 1992), but the target audience is likely to find it engaging.
Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 076361906X
• ISBN 13: 9780763619060
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Fox-Davies Sarah