The Bear and her Book
Frances Tosdevin and Sophia O’Connor
UCLAN Publishing

“The world is big and there’s much to see, / And a bear must go where she wants to be.” So says the curious bear one moonlit night and having decided to visit somewhere she can gaze at the starlit sea, she packs just one thing, her ‘Bear’s Big Book of Being Wise’ and off she goes.

Soon she reaches that sandy shore with its starlit sea and there she meets a crab with a claw that needs attention. More than willing to assist, Bear sits and refers to her special book wherein she finds just the cure needed to fix the crab’s claw.

Then, as the two sit looking into the star-spangled darkness bear decides she still needs to see more of the big wide world and bidding farewell heads off to the jungle.

Having prescribed a cure for the crocodile with a cold and enjoyed a swim, she sets off again.

In the desert she helps a lizard with a swollen eye

but now she yearns for somewhere without land. Our traveller finds a port, jumps on a ship and stows away in a box.

When unpacked, she discovers close by, a place with books galore and she gets a wonderful surprise. Actually not just one surprise …

Frances Tosdevin’s rhyming narrative with its repeat refrain, and Sophia O’Connor’s gorgeous scenes documenting bear’s travels and her deeds of kindness are sheer delight: a tribute to the power of books and a lovely demonstration of going where your heart takes you.

Where is the place you most want to be, I wonder.