This picture book is magic. The attention to detail, the delicacy with which the emotions are represented... Simply spectacular.

In this nearly wordless picture book, Ettie’s mother tells her it’s time to get ready for bed. Ettie takes a bath, picks out pajamas, reads a bedtime story with her mom and then hides under the covers with a flashlight in hand seemingly afraid of the dark. Suddenly a magical flurry of lights peeks through her window. Ettie discovers she is able to manipulate the mystical moon light and in the night sky she draws a bear. Magically, the bear appears in her room and together they play until they fall asleep side by side. In the morning, Ettie is saddened to find the moon bear is gone, but she can’t wait to get ready for bed the next night to once again be reunited with her friend.

Containing just two lines of text, this largely wordless picture book shows Ettie at bedtime. At first, they are afraid of the dark, but soon sparkling lights from the moon form a bear that comes through the window to play with Ettie. The gouache and colored pencil paneled artwork depict Ettie as white, with an indeterminate gender. Is the bear real or from Ettie’s imagination? Because of the smaller panels, this will work best one-on-one but not for storytime. Not to be confused with the classic picture book Moonbear by Frank Asch (S&, 1978).

Moon Bear by Clare Helen Welsh features only eight words in the narrative itself, and yet the story comes across so well in the beautiful illustrations by Carolina T. Godina. Little Ettie is scared of the dark, something many children will be able to relate to, and ends up clutching to her torch after bedtime. So when a beam of moonlight enters through her bedroom window she investigates and ends up drawing to life a little bear made of starlight! The two have a night of adventuring and help each other face their fears with compassion and some gentle persuasion and guidance. This will be a story I am sure many children will want to return to, time and time again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy.

Moon Bear is an absolute delight to read!

Ettie is afraid of the dark... Until one night when the bright moon shines through a crack in her curtains. She connects the stars in the sky as if they were dots and a Moon Bear appears in her room! Together they face each other fears.

I like the sky. The Great Bear (or Ursa Major) is one of my favorite constellations! And I love the moon! I have got out of the bed in the most inconvenient hours imaginable to go outside to take pictures of it. I once went to exam with no sleep because I was up all night taking photos of the moon.

And for the longest time, I was afraid of the dark! I started to get over my fear when my father introduced me to the stars. That meant pointing at the sky and reading a lot of non-fiction. I would have absolutely adored a book like this as a child!

The art and story also reminded me a lot of the film The Snowman (1982) - which is actually based on a book but I have never read it. I love the film and this book made me feel just the same, magical.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

What a sweet, sweet tale about a little girl afraid of the dark and a moon bear who is afraid of the light. They comfort each as the spectacular illustrations glow from the page. Highly recommended!

This was a very cute little book. Ettie is a little scared of the dark. Then she meets MoonBear, and now she can’t wait to go to bed. Great book for children.

In this delightfully sweet silent graphic novel, we are following a young girl who’s having trouble sleeping and who creates a polar bear every night to help her fall asleep. Together, they play and cuddle until she falls into the arms of Morpheus.

This book is perfect for young children who don’t know how to read yet as they can make up the story just by looking at the pictures. It is also perfect for any child who’s afraid of the dark as it will teach them to embrace it and make friends with it. Overall, all children who love picture books, graphic novels and/or cute illustrations in general will surely love this book. Not to mention adults who are feeling nostalgic or just enjoy cute things 😉

I felt like Goldilocks because everything about this picture book was just right, from the beautiful cover to the pastel illustrations to the lovely message. It’s Ettie’s bedtime, but night is so scary! But when she meets the magical Moon Bear, she finds a playmate just as frightened by the light as she is of the night. Maybe having a friend is what it takes to reduce the fear. Author-illustrator Clare Helen Welsh crafts an amazing book with nearly no words.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Quarto Publishing and Frances Lincoln Children’s Books in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars!
Can it get any cuter?

Little Ettie gets ready and lies in her bed, afraid of the dark. She tries to sleep only to see stardust entering the room. Curious, she explores the stardust and traces a bear by connecting the star dots. Viola! Magic! The bear comes alive to meet her.
This is a lovely book with barely any text. Only two pages have text, that too, no more than 8 words in total. The rest of the story is told in a series of illustrations. Some pages have multiple images arranged in neat boxes.
Kids can easily understand the context by looking at the illustrations. The expressions are clear and apt. Curiosity, delight, hesitation, fear, eagerness, anticipation, and many other emotions can be grasped just by looking at the pictures. The color scheme is beautiful in shades of greenish-blue, reddish-orange, and sparkling silver stardust.

To summarize, Moon Bear is a perfect bedtime story for kiddos and will give them a happy sleep filled with dreams of magic and furry friends!
Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I found it very hard to rate children's books so everything is a 5 star read for me!!
I really loved this book, the illustrations are so beautiful and captivating that I found myself smiling through every page I read.
The story itself is very beaitiful and inspiring <3

The book concept is interesting: there's virtually no text (except for two lines), and the kid learns to use her wild imagination to get over her fear of the dark. The illustrations really convey a strong sense of magic and wonder. It's very beautiful to watch. And I understand the willingness to use only pictures to tell the story, but I would've loved to "hear" the conversations between the child and the bear. Well, it'll be up to the reader's imagination!

Every Christmas my boys and I watch "The Snowman" together. It's beautiful, heartfelt, and gives me a warm, cozy feeling inside. "Moon Bear" gave me those exact same feelings. "Moon Bear" is a word-light, illustration-heavy book full of warmth, magic, and whimsy. This book is sure to be a favorite for parents and children alike; I can already see my boys pouring over every page and every detail, begging for their own "Moon Bear". Clare Helen Welsh has created a lovely story perfect for any time of the day, but this is definitely going on my bedtime rotation.

This book is so beautifully illustrated and manages to tell such a lovely story without many words. We call our little one moonbear so I had to read this to her as soon as I saw it. She loved it and it’s definitely a book well buy when it comes out.

I cannot say how much I absolutely love this book! Moon Bear is an adorable, nearly wordless, picture book. The stories my students can make up with these illustrations are going to be so much fun. I love the twist at the end.

Cozy and rustic artwork. Depicts the joy of imaginative and appreciating the present moment. Facial expressions are expressive and enhances characters. Humorous and fun. Creative interactions. Powerful images with little to no words. Strong message of friendship and wonder. Overall, a very good read.

The illustrations in this book were absolutely adorable and I loved the whimsical, magical atmosphere that was created. The storyline was very sweet and the Moon Bear was extremely cute. I do wish that there had been slightly more words as I feel it would have helped the story along a bit however I think younger children or toddlers will enjoy just looking at the stunning pictures.

Overall this was a very cute book and I loved the premise of the girl being scared of the dark and the bear being scared of the light.

I loved this book! It has hardly any text at all, but it feels very special and magical. The drawings are very beautiful, magical and the story is very clear. It's super sweet and I highly recommend you read this (alone or with a child)!

Thank you NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books, and Clare Helen Welsh for the early access copy of Moon Bear.

Moon Bear is a beautifully illustrated wordless story of a child’s journey of overcoming a fear of darkness and learning to love her bedtime. Moon Bear starts with Ettie’s mother letting her know it is time for bed and goes through Ettie’s bedtime routine. When Ettie gets to bed, she appears to be afraid of the dark. When suddenly a beautiful ray of light appears from the window and gives Ettie the ability to spread light. When Ettie spreads the light across the stars an illuminated polar bear appears in her room and the fun between the two begins. When Ettie wakes, she is missing the joy she had throughout the night and cannot wait for the next nights adventure.

Moon Bear does a fantastic job of illustrating accents of light by using various forms of light sources. There are some illustrations with subtle light like the alarm clock in Ettie’s room, while other illustrations show larger sources of light like the flashlight, bedroom light, and moons glow.

This will be a lovely book that can be used as a tool for children to express their own interpretations.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC.

This was a beautiful picture book, perfect for young children. It has the perfect illustration style, it had me smiling at every single picture.
"Moon Bear" does a wonderful job of depicting fear of the dark (that most children have at some point) while finding magic and comfort in the stars and moonlight.
I wish I had picture books, like this one, growing up.