The Big Brown Bear

written by Georges Duplaix, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
* * * *
Content 4/5
Poetic Mastery 4/5
Literary Truth 4/5

The first page has the yawning man big brown bear waking up. “Once there was a big brown bear who lived with his wife inside a cave.” The cave is remarkably pretty and fresh, with green grass and a small blue sky at the end.

Then,

There is so much depth in this book. Notice how the author puts no words on the last page, and it’s not at a page turn, underlining the subtext of the obvious inevitability of the man bear’s actions.

Men are machines, no?

I am having such a hard time not stealing this book from our fledgling library. Perhaps my wife will get it for me for a birthday. [wink wink]