Based on the title, I knew something bad was going to happen to these bears and it didn't take long to figure it out. I pre-read this book and hummed and hawed whether or not to read it to my grandchildren, but decided to give it a go. Their grandpa, my husband, passed away 6 years ago, but they were quite young. We do a remembrance dinner each year on the day of his death. Their nonno is sick right now, so I was worried how they would take it, but I worried in vain. The story starts with the life of black bears. What they eat, how they play, where they live, etc. was all shared. As winter approaches we learn about their preparations and hibernation. It is only at the end of the book where papa bear goes out and doesn't come back. He is hit by a car and dies. Now the forest characters become anthropomorphized taking on human characteristics. They have a funeral service for papa bear and remembrance ceremonies each year after. The grandkids could not read this book as the language was quite advanced and I spent a lot of time explaining some of the vocabulary. I did like that the death was part of life and that life goes on after the face, but it is okay to remember and be sad. They compared this story to the fact that grandpa died and that we are still sad sometimes. I'm not sure if they would get any relief from their grief with this book if it was a parent of grandparent that died now, but until that happens, it will be hard to tell.

I adored this book and read it to my little ones. I’m not sure they fully grasped the concept the book was portraying about losing someone you care about. I still recommend!

Very cute Children's book. I thought it was adorable. It had beautiful photos through out the book as well.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, for giving me the chance to read and review this book. I really enjoyed it!

I love the heart behind this book. The illustrations are beautiful. I feel the book missed an incredible opportunity to discuss the feelings of children grieving. The world needs children’s books on grieving. Also, the vocabulary explanations were too complex for a child. The book explained hibernation as “a biological mechanism some animals use to conserve energy and cope with food storages.” My 2nd grader loves non-fiction and reads at a 5th grade reading level. It left him confused, even though he knew about hibernation. It pulled him out of the story.

Thank you, Austin McCauley Publishers and NetGalley for a copy in exhange for an honest review.

This was a good book to explain death to a small child. Not too much information but enough for the child to understand. After a season of being in the forest the bears go to hibernate. Papa B leaves the den to check if the coast is clear but does not return. I feel that the title of this book is not correct. It is Brothers Bear Tragic Day but the book is about much more than one day. Yes the tragic day is when Papa B doesn’t return but the book covers so much more than that one day. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful!! I would definitely read this to a small child dealing with death.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

So I think my main issue is that this book was marketed as a book that helps explain loss and tragedy which is great; however, the book did little to actually explain or help with it. Papa Bear gets hit by a car after waking up from hibernation and the only talk of grief is “family collapsed into a heap and wept for days” and that they organized a simple service where other animals came to pay respects. All of this happens in just 2 or 3 pages and then the family moves on and the sons have more cubs and that’s the end. Most of the book was leading up to this tragic event, and if you read the summary before picking up the book you basically can skip the entire beginning, and then the book is done right after the tragic event. It was just a disappointment.

The paragraphs were pretty wordy but this wouldn’t have bothered me if there was actually something happening. The paragraphs also include definitions of some of the words which was a nice bonus. Although, I’m not sure if it’s just because of the e-book or not but the definitions are coming up on the wrong pages.

I think the best part of the entire book and why it gets 2 stars is the illustrations. They were really pretty and I especially liked the bears, they were adorable.

I really like the premise of the book but I just don’t think it was executed well as the storyline of the Papa Bears’ tragedy just felt forced.

Review of eBook

When the days grow shorter and cooler, the Bartholomew brothers, black bear cubs Cornelius and Oliver, eat extra fish to prepare for the day when they will curl up in their cave and sleep through the snowy winter.

After snoozing for four months, nineteen days, five hours, and fourteen seconds, the bear cubs awoke to the sound of birds chirping. But George the Groundhog saw his shadow and they went back to sleep for six more weeks.

When they awoke the next time, Papa Bear went out to make sure everything was safe for his family. But he did not come back . . . .

The illustrations in this picture book are lovely and are sure to please young readers; the narrative provides information about black bears and their habits. Purportedly written to help children deal with tragedy and grief, the book is a bit of an anomaly. Although it is definitely a young reader’s picture book, the narrative speaks to much older readers. Definitions for some words are included; strangely, however, the definitions do not appear on the page where the word is used but on the following page. Sadly, there is no closure; instead, the story simply stops.

The illustrations are the highlight of this book; ultimately, however, readers turning the final page may find themselves feeling just a bit disappointed.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Austin Macauley Publishers and NetGalley
#BrotherBearsTragicDay #NetGalley

The illustrations of the bears are the most precious thing in the world, but I think that the book in general is a bit presumptuous with all the elaborate words that it uses. I've been looking for the age range, but couldn't find it.
With the story itself, I expected to end in a sea of ​​tears, but the story seemed too rushed. It's a shame that it didn't achieve its goal, because the premise is really good.

The bears in these illustrations are just TOO CUTE. I adore them. This book will teach children about the yearly cycle of a bear's life in an endearing way. This book also covers grief and parental loss.