Copycat Bear!

PreS-Gr 2—Mango the bird has a close but complicated friendship with an enormous bear named Blue. He copies everything she does-he flaps his paws, tries to live in the tree, and even sings (though it comes out as more of a roar). A frustrated Mango decides to end this behavior by showing that she can fly-and nearly gets squashed by Blue, who claims he can do it, too. Colorful, textured illustrations with a collage of patterns and plenty of white space showcase these two endearing creatures, and children will find it easy to empathize with them even if they have aggravating copycats in their own lives. Mango flies off and leaves a fallen Blue behind, but ultimately she misses him too much to stay away. She explains on her return that, even though birds and bears are different, they can still be best friends. It's not clear that Blue will now be his own bear, but there's relief knowing that these two are going to try to work things out together.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA