Mom, There's a Bear at the Door

A mother has questions after being informed there's a bear in the apartment building. Her imaginative kid has all the answers: "He took the elevator." Their witty banter--which constitutes the entire text--makes for a lively read-aloud or readers'-theater script. Acrylic-paint and colored-pencil illustrations alternate between cozy domestic scenes and images of the bear looking amusingly out of place.

A mother has some questions after her child informs her there's a bear on the eleventh floor of their apartment building, including "How did the bear get up here?" Her imaginative kid has all the answers: "He took the elevator." Reasonable-sounding answers prompt more questions from straight-woman Mom ("The bear pressed the button and took the elevator?"); the child responds matter-of-factly ("Of course! The elevator doesn't work if no one presses the button"). Their witty banter -- which constitutes the entire text -- makes for a lively read-aloud or readers-theater script. The speaker is indicated only by text color (red or black), and readers-aloud will need to be mindful of this as they deliver lines. Acrylic paint and colored-pencil illustrations alternate between cozy domestic scenes (Mom makes a cake as she and her child converse) and images of the bear looking amusingly out of place on a city bus or squeezed into that elevator. Mother and child's affectionate relationship comes through in both text and pictures, though the muted-color compositions clearly establish point of view as the child's. After a wordless rooftop picnic brings child and bear (and cake) together, the bear returns to "his cave"; the art shows the child along for the journey, and a final spread (also wordless) shows bear and kid curled up asleep in (presumably) the child's room. If you find a bear at the door, it helps to have cake and a creative youngster on hand. kitty flynn