When the Wind Bears Go Dancing

A small child joins five woolly Wind Bears as they rumble and tumble through the stormy night sky

PreSchool-K?A comforting bedtime story that explains a stormy night to an anxious child. The little girl's mother tells her it's the wind bears dancing, and the child imagines what it would be like to be with them, stepping out on rooftops; rustling leaves; and encountering friendly fish, lions, and tigers. The bled double-page spreads capture all of the nocturnal activity with a flair, from the opening picture of soft white clouds turning into bears, until the last page, where they once again become clouds. The illustrations blend nicely with the rhyming text in presenting a delightful story of a sleepy child's adventures.?Denise Furgione, Franklin Township Public Library, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A rhyme to soften the roar of thunderclouds and the flash of lightning by transforming them. Stone's verse and lush pastel illustrations convert a scary thunderstorm into a dance party of wind bears, lions, tigers, and other creatures. When the bears shake their coats, raindrops fall, and the laughter of tigers makes zigzags of lightning race through the sky. It's a grand hullabaloo, and the little girl who narrates joins in the dancing with glee. When it's all over, the child and wind bears pile into an orange convertible: The bears then curl up in treetops and float away, while the girl goes back to her bedroom, where she observes the storm clouds departing. Stone's woolly cloud creatures will bring comfort to little ones distressed by thunder claps; a striking nighttime palette of purple, deep blue, and orange perfectly counters any sentimentalism in the text. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 3^-6. What is that rumbly noise that the wind makes? A little girl's mother tells her that it's the wind bears dancing by. And though she is warned to stay home, the girl, in a flight of fancy, cavorts with five woolly white bears in the midnight sky. The poetic text is full of words like rumble, tumble, spin, and whirl; the feeling of motion is the story's central image, even as tigers play with tambourines and the rain sings along. Catching the mood is the arresting colored-chalk artwork executed primarily in nighttime shades of blues and purples. The five fuzzy bears frolicking in the night with one happy little girl are shown in sweeping panoramas, yet with plenty of detail to satisfy those who want to look and look again. A warm, comforting book to read when a mighty wind is blowing outside. Ilene Cooper