Mama Bear Little Bear

PreS-K-The bond between mother and child is powerful and profound. This story beautifully captures the essence of this relationship through a series of daily adventures of a pearl-wearing mother bear and her high-spirited cub. The mother is cautious, prudent, and sometimes exasperated with her cub: "Mama Bear wonders why Little Bear acts naughty. Little Bear wonders why Mama Bear always says 'don't.'" Little Bear is a dreamer and adventurer who is completely in tune with the natural world. Even though they may think differently about many things (for example, Mama Bear believes in "cleverness and hard work," while Little Bear believes in "dreams and magic"), they love each other completely. Further, they each know that their lives are made complete by the other. Ferri's illustrations have a softness and simplicity that complement the repetitive pattern of the text-two lines per page, with one line indicating Mama Bear's perspective and the other presenting Little Bear's point of view. VERDICT A gentle tale that adults will love sharing with their children while snuggling up together one-on-one.-Sally James, South Hillsborough Elementary School, CA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kaplanoglou pokes light fun at the yin/yang of the mother/daughter experience.Mothers and daughters have different concerns as they wend their ways through the world. Kaplanoglou counterpoises, in a simple scheme of two sentences per double-page spread, the elder and youthful approaches: Mama Bear dreams while she sleeps. Little Bear dreams while awake. Mama Bear is protective: Mama Bear runs and hides for safety. Little Bear thinks hiding is a game. And both have their bugbears, as it were: Mama Bear is afraid of too much light. Little Bear is afraid of darkness. Carefully blending and bleeding his watercolors, Ferri brings a soft smokiness to the proceedings (in which Mama Bear wears a string of pearls), heightening the tenderness of the bears relationship, despite some disagreements: Mama Bear wonders why Little Bears acts naughty. It looks as though Little Bear has pasted lily pads on Mama Bear. Little Bear wonders why Mama Bear always says dont. Such is life, but while Mama Bear is there to instruct and shelterMama Bear sleeps with her back to the snow. Little Bear sleeps with her back against Mama Bearshe also knows when to loosen the apron strings: Mama Bear treads familiar paths. Little Bear likes to find new paths. Affection runs through the story like a lazy stream. Theres much to identify with in this gentle, perceptive book, no matter the gender or species. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.