The Bear Who Wasn't There
And the Fabulous Forest
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
A delightful children's book "filled with surreal gags about prepositions and adverbs, cheerful absurdity, and down the rabbit hole-style musings" (School Library Journal).
One day, a few minutes after Once Upon a Time, a bear awakes to find he has lost something very important: himself! He sets out into the Fabulous Forest to find himself, using only a few clues scrawled on a piece of paper: the bear he's looking for is a nice bear; he is a happy bear; and he's very handsome too! These sound like pretty good qualities to Bear, and so begins his memorable journey. With the help of critters like the Convenience Cow, the Lazy Lizard, the Turtle Taxi, and the Penultimate Penguin, Bear finds that he himself is just what he's been looking for all along: a nice, happy bear—and handsome too!
"A melding of Phantom Tollbooth logic, Alice in Wonderland whimsy, and peppered with a cast of unforgettable Little Prince like characters . . . You can't help fall into the imaginative world of this delightfully clever picture book." —BookBloom
"Irresistible." —O, The Oprah Magazine
"Gentle wordplay and Lewis Carroll-like paradoxes . . . Everything is new to Bear, and his discoveries will delight readers." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Erlbruch's playful, distinctive illustrations . . . are sublime." —Kirkus Reviews
"Young readers with a philosophical nature and an appreciation for provocative silliness will be especially gratified by Bear's self-discovery . . . The Fabulous Forest effectively evokes a fairy tale feel, and Bear, a portly fellow with huge eyes, a bright red mouth, and colorful flecks in his black fur, is loveable at first sight." —New York Journal of Books
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In songwriter Lavie's debut, originally published in Germany, Bear's search for himself doesn't matter so much as the charm of Lavie's storytelling voice as he narrates it. Bear materializes, improbably, from an itch that grows as it scratches itself. In his fur he discovers a pocket with a note inside. "Are you me?" it reads. "Helpful clues to look for: 1. I am a very nice bear. 2. I am a happy bear. 3. Very handsome too." Erlbruch (The King and the Sea) gives the bear big, puzzled-looking eyes and a lovable grin. He lives in a forest made of ornate trees seemingly lifted from vintage engravings, whose delicate lines play off Bear's dumpy figure. Bear's encounters with various characters the Turtle Taxi, the Penultimate Penguin feature gentle wordplay and Lewis Carroll like paradoxes. "There are exactly Beautiful flowers around the tree," Bear concludes after counting flowers with the penguin. "Beautiful is not a number," the penguin retorts. "Oh, but I just counted," Bear says. Everything is new to Bear, and his discoveries will delight readers. Ages 3 7.
