Pup and Bear
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
This deeply emotional read-aloud about a lost wolf pup who is raised by a loving polar bear is sure to resonate with families – particularly non-traditional ones.
You are not my mother, said the wolf pup.
I am not your mother, said the polar bear, but I can cuddle you and keep you safe.
Here is a picture book that celebrates differences and promotes kindness , sure to resonate with the many fans of the beloved classic, Mama Do You Love Me? During the ice melt that follows an Arctic winter, a wolf cub finds himself spinning out to sea on a sheet of ice. He awakes lost and alone to an unfamiliar smell: a polar bear. And while the polar bear is not the wolf's mother, she takes him on her back to her den, where she feeds him, keeps him warm, and does everything a mother would do. Time passes, the cub grows into a wolf, and soon it's time for him to venture out into the wide world alone. Years later, the now grown wolf comes upon a tiny lost polar bear cub--and the cycle begins again. With poetic prose this beautiful picture book about the love and kindness of a stranger is sure to touch a deep chord, particularly with parents and children who have found each other in unexpected ways.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Discovered by a polar bear, an accidentally abandoned wolf cub flattens his ears against his head in fear, declares, "You are not my mother," and expects the worst. "Aren't you going to eat me?" he asks. But the polar bear, for reasons never expressed, demurs and takes the cub into her life. While insisting "I am not your mother" again and again, she does everything a mother would: she cuddles him, keeps him safe, plays with him, teaches him how to catch food, and (eventually) sends him into the world. Painted, once again, on plywood, Stoop's compositions are largely composed along the same horizontal plane, mostly eschewing close-ups. And it works: the subdued visual mood is a lovely match for Banks's unadorned prose, and the characters' relationship to the harsh landscape underscores their resilience. By story's end, when the wolf pays the polar bear's kindness forward, it's clear that offering compassion is what keeps "the wondrous wheel of life" moving forward. Ages 3 7. Author's)
