FICTION

A Bear's Year

by Kathy DUVAL
illus. by Gerry Turley. 40p. Random/Schwartz & Wade Bks. Oct. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780385370110.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 1—Joining the avalanche of seasonal bear stories, Duval's gentle, spare rhyme, paired with Turley's full-bleed, thick-lined nature sketches, tells the story of "a cozy dreamer/in her lair/[who] cuddles newborn/baby bears." She then spends a year teaching them to forage for food and find shelter, "For they must learn/what Mama knows/while flowers bloom/and grass still grows." The rhythm of the story perfectly matches the slow plod of a bear in the snow, and the language lends itself to sharing both with a group of young cubs or with a solitary special one, snuggled on a lap.
VERDICT A sweet and satisfying look at the natural world.
Reviewed by Jenna Boles, Greene County Public Library, Beavercreek, OH
It's dark and warm in the den while winter descends outside. Northern lights appear, a wolf cries, and a mama bear and two newborn cubs sleep peacefully. The spare rhyming text and illustrations (a combination of drawing and screen printing) follow the cubs through their first year and beautifully evoke the animals' relationship with the earth and with each other.
 , Oct 01, 2015

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