Bearsuit Turtle Plays a Game: A Picture Book

PreS-Gr 1–Two turtles, one in a bear suit, its head appearing within the suit’s gaping mouth, are trying to find a game to play. Baseball is ruled out since they lack “hot dogs and ample parking,” and soccer is rejected because there is no loyal and enthusiastic fan base. Bearsuit proposes a secret game of bearsketball, leaping from rock to rock over the “hot lava” grass to keep a ball from touching the ground. After hunting for the biggest stick and rolling down a hill “with grace and aplomb,” Bearsuit settles on guessing a number between one and a million. They choose the same number and so both win. The art is simple, the turtles appearing as blotches of color that sometimes overflow or don’t quite fill their black inked outlines, like hastily sketched Keith Haring figures. Backgrounds are oversaturated washes of subdued browns, greens, and blues. This is the second outing for Shea’s absurdist reptile after 2025’s Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend.