Review by Booklist Review
While creating crayon pictures of animals, a young bear has a playful session of what-if with his mother. Little Bear asks Mama Bear, If you were a doctor in charge of the zoo . . . , and then, using rhyme, creates a series of situations in which different animals have different ailments. What if Chimp had a limp? What if Deer couldn't hear? What if Meerkat got too fat? Mama Bear has a rhyming solution for each: If Meerkat came by / weighing too many pounds, / I'd call over Cheetah / to chase him around. Little Bear's childlike drawings depict each of Mama's solutions on the backdrop behind them, as if the images were being projected. Eventually Little Bear asks what if he were the sick one. Mama Bear's remedy for this includes entertainment, balloons, tickling, cookies, soup, and comfort. Fun, cheerful, colorful, and comforting this is a pleasant remedy for the blues or any somber mood. Read-alikes include Rhonda Gowler Greene's Barnyard Song (1997) and Teresa Bateman's Farm Flu (2001).--Enos, Randall Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Momma Bear and her cub enjoy a rhyming conversation about how she'd care for the animals if she were a doctor. "If you were a doctor/in charge of the zoo,/what would you do/if Gnu had the flu?" asks Little Bear. Momma would come to the rescue with cake and the appropriate pills. But what about chimps with limps, deer that can't hear, a meerkat that gets too fat, or weasels with measles? Momma has the proper cure for every one of them. The question inevitably turns to "how would you be/if you were a doctor,/and the sick one were me?" As that would be a special case, Momma's proposed cures are extra nice. Little Bear would get his favorite foods, a round of board games, cuddles and tickles, and the best care of all. O'Malley's illustrations were done with crayons, colored pencils, and colored markers. In the foreground Momma and Little Bear have their playful conversation, while behind them Little Bear's artwork-drawn to mimic crayon drawings by children-act as the backdrop. Overall, an additional story about a mother's enduring love.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
"Mama Bear, Mama Bear... / If you were a doctor / in charge of the zoo, / what would you do / if Gnu had the flu?"As Little Bear asks his Mama what she would do for a series of animal ailments, she answers him in rhyme while he draws a huge picture with crayons of the cure. "If Chimp came to see me, / and his foot had a pain, / I'd tell him to walk / with a big candy cane." Little Bear draws a dressed chimp complete with bowtie walking with a red-and-white striped cane. Other supposed problems are: What if Deer couldn't hear, Meerkat got too fat; Fox got chicken pox; Goat had a sore throat; Weasel had measles. The speculation ends with Little Bear himself. She replies, "I'd puppet a story. / I'd tootle a tune. / I'd huff and I'd puff you / a big red balloon. / ... I'd fix all your favorites / cookies and soup / and when you got better, / I'd let out a WHOOOOP!" The rhymes have some hiccups, but the rhythm carries the story. The appealing illustrations (made with art markers, colored pencils and crayons) accessorize Mama Bear's doctor garb with stethoscope and pearls. Little Bear's drawings are a clever device, especially as they're exactly like child-drawn crayon drawings.Youngsters will find the silly answers funny and be reassured that Mamas can always fix everything. (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
