Brother Hugo and the Bear - Hardcover

Beebe, Katy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802854079 ISBN 13: 9780802854070

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2014

Synopsis

“Combines suspense, humor, and information in a handsome, entertaining package.” ―School Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

“Prepare to be charmed by a bear who loves words ― or at least loves to eat them.” ― Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)

“Interesting, wry and educational.” ― The New York Times


In this humorous and charming picture book, a monk struggles to return a library book because of a bear…with a taste for letters.

Brother Hugo can't return his library book ― the letters of St. Augustine ― because, it turns out, the precious book has been devoured by a bear! 

Instructed by the abbot to borrow another monastery's copy and create a replacement, the hapless monk painstakingly crafts a new book, copying it letter by letter and line by line. But when he sets off to return the borrowed copy, he finds himself trailed by his hungry new friend. Once a bear has a taste of letters, it appears, he’s rarely satisfied.

Brother Hugo and the Bear is loosely based on a note found in a 12th-century manuscript ― and largely on the creative imaginings of author and historian Katy Beebe. Lavishly illustrated by S. D. Schindler in the style of medieval manuscripts, this humorous tale is sure to delight passionate readers who have acquired their own taste for books.

About this title

About the Authors

Katy Beebe teaches history at University of Texas at Arlington and has a doctorate in Medieval History from the University of Oxford. She spent many years studying the kinds of medieval manuscripts that Brother Hugo might have made.

S.D. Schindler is an award-winning illustrator of many bestselling picture books, including Come to the Castle! (Flash Point), The Story of Salt (Putnam Juvenile), and Big Pumpkin (Aladdin). He lives in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

K-Gr 3—According to detailed back matter, the author learned of a documented incident involving a book-eating bear and the subsequent letter written by Peter the Venerable to a neighboring French monastery requesting St. Augustine's letters. That research inspired this story that combines suspense, humor, and information in a handsome, entertaining package. As the tale begins, Brother Hugo confesses his unfortunate loss to the abbot, who asks: "Pray tell, … how did a bear find our letters of St. Augustine?" Hugo replies ruefully, "They seemed to agree with him." His penance is to journey to Chartreuse to borrow the manuscript and copy it. Beebe's language creates an Old World flavor, as Hugo "sorely sighed and sorrowed in his heart" and "sped full mightily." When he begins to copy the borrowed book, the enormity of the task dawns on him, and the brothers offer assistance. Readers then obtain a clear overview of medieval bookmaking, from the stretching and scraping of sheepskin to the laborious copying and binding. Schindler's elegant compositions make full use of each spread. Text wraps around delicate ink and watercolor brooks and grazing sheep, while illuminated letters decorate and amuse. Arches and columns cleverly frame the monk, creating sequential panels to portray his painstaking progress on what becomes, alas, another "choice morsel" for the insatiable beast. Combine this with C. M. Millen's The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane (Charlesbridge, 2010) and Jan Pancheri's Brother William's Year (Frances Lincoln, 2010) for further insights into how monasteries nourish bodies and souls.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

Set in a medieval monastery, Beebe’s story opens with Brother Hugo explaining that he cannot return his library book, because it was eaten by a bear. The abbot bids him to borrow a copy of the same book from the neighboring Grande Chartreuse monastery, make an illuminated reproduction, and then return the borrowed volume. With help from the other monks, Brother Hugo does as he is told, but on his return trip to Grande Chartreuse, he encounters the same bear, who eats the borrowed book, as well. Loosely based on a note in a twelfth-century manuscript, the story has a few elements, such as the final sentence (“Your library book is due today”), that sound more modern than medieval. Still, the gentle, amusing story offers a bit of adventure, as well as tells how medieval monks went about making their treasured books. Schindler’s beautiful ink-and-watercolor illustrations use decorative elements reminiscent of illuminated manuscripts to suggest the period, while portraying the characters as distinct individuals with expressive faces, and landscapes that sometimes resemble those in medieval books of hours. A historical note and glossary conclude this handsome picture book with an unusual setting. Grades 1-3. --Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802854079
• ISBN 13: 9780802854070
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Schindler S. D.
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 34