A Letter for Bear
David Lucas
Flying Eye Books
I make no apologies for reviewing this book again having first done so (as part of a seasonal roundup) when it was first published three years ago. That however didn’t really do justice to such a terrific book: I love it even more now, coming to it afresh.
Meet postman, Bear, meticulous in his delivery of other people’s mail but never himself the receiver of any letters. After each day’s work he’d retreat to his cave home, drink soup and ponder on the possibility of getting some mail of his own.

One windy day while out on his round, his mailbag is whisked skywards and its contents are scattered all over the snowy ground.

Bear collects every single letter but the addresses are smudged so he has to knock on all the doors to ensure correct delivery and thus gets to know the names of all the other animals. As expected every recipient appreciates his efforts but seeing all those families together only makes Bear feel more lonely than ever.

Back in his cave that night, Bear decides he must take the initiative and gets busy writing Christmas party invitations and next morning he delivers ‘a whole snowstorm of letters’ to his new acquaintances. The same evening he decorates his cave and waits … and waits …
The disconsolate creature is on the point of giving up when he hears voices outside asking to come in. Then, after all, it’s a case of ‘let’s party’; but even better, the following morning all the letters in his sack are for a certain ursine postman. Hurray!

An altogether uplifting seasonal story but for me, the book’s real strength lies in David Lucas’s intricately patterned illustrations. All but one of the double spreads has a geometric border of patterned triangles, rectangles, diamonds or scallops; and set into some of the scenes, we view Bear’s lonely world through circular peephole vignettes. His limited colour palette – – shades of blue, orange, purple, russet, pink and orange – and his use of geometric shapes for, or to pattern, trees, buildings, flowers and more, add to the impact. Add to all this angled viewpoints, interrupted borders, beautiful snowscapes and delectable endpapers, and what do you have? A small gem of a book, and a pattern-tastic treasure that is a masterpiece of design. The perfect present to tuck into the branches of a Christmas tree or to pop in the post.
If you work in a school and want to inspire some letter writing, sharing this story is a perfect starting point, and then you can set up a special “Bear Mail’ post box or perhaps let the writers peg their letters onto a Christmas tree.