I Know a Bear

Reviewed by: Barbara Merritt - Scarborough School Department, Scarborough, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 12, 2015

Review

A young girl sits pondering in her bed. Drawn with wild yellow hair, but otherwise subdued illustration and in a gentle voice, she tells the reader of the bear she knows. He comes from the Land of Bears and tells her about all that is good in that land. Then on a mostly black page, she says he cannot go back home. The next page shows him caged in a zoo. The girl thinks some more then goes home and lets her pet bird go free from its cage. This book was originally published in French by an Argentinian author. The subject matter is meant to provoke thought and conversation about the idea of freedom. There is not much to the story. The reader must add a lot. For young children, there may not be enough story about something they have not yet begun to consider.

Overall Book Score: good