The Great Bear

Gr 2—5—Something about the dancing circus bear evokes pathos in sensitive onlookers: perhaps it's the disconnect between the vision of the enormous, once-free and powerful animal and the minute props and unnatural motions that accompany such performances. In contrast to what readers will likely feel as the story progresses, the hooded, medieval peasants peering out from the book jacket appear eager and somewhat sinister in their pleasure; the only clue to what they are viewing is the title. As the story begins, the bear is outlined in charcoal, a small figure in the lower left corner of an otherwise blank page (except for the spare text). The recto portrays the troupe traveling through golden wheat fields; these pictures are rendered in highly textured acrylics, the palette darkening as the performers move closer. The text builds rhythmically until the momentous night, when it reveals that after years of dancing, "The bear stood very still….Sticks poke. Sticks prod. Chains yank. Stones strike, strike, strike." In a wordless sequence following a great "ROAR," a large shadow looms. The bear, now fully realized in acrylics, lumbers away. He climbs a pole and leaps gracefully into swirls of cobalt and light—perhaps to become a constellation? Children will sympathize with the bear's plight and feel a quiet sense of wonder at the powerful conclusion. Older readers, who've learned more history about oppression, may read it on another level. Endnotes provide the backstory to this memorable Australian collaboration.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library