There, There

This is a fun book to read. A nice rhyming story about a bear and a hare who have to spend the day inside. The hare is grumpy and making life miserable, while the bear is attempting to have a good day. I loved it and would read it again to my children.

The illustrations are adorable too, loved the bear and the earthworm.

So, A Patient Bear and a Grumpy Hare Go Out in the Rain

You know, nothing beats a really good bear and rabbit story. Add a couple of little jokes and then a surprise big joke and you have a real winner. In this book you have a whinging rabbit who finally drives his patient bear friend bonkers. Bear decides it's time to teach rabbit to appreciate what he has.

Lots of appealing and funny things are going on here. The story is told in verse; the rhyme is not sing-song, but fairly sophisticated. This doesn't make the book challenging or difficult - it makes it more interesting. Rabbit is very creative in finding things to complain about, and bear's creeping exasperation is presented sympathetically. This is all very carefully crafted and presented, which is refreshing given that greener-grass stories can be pretty slapdash sometimes. 

SPOILER, SO DON'T TELL THE KIDS. Eventually, bear drags rabbit out into the rain and shows rabbit a lowly little muddy worm. Comparing rabbit's life of ease to the worm's life, bear drives home the point that rabbit should be more thankful for what he has. So far, so good, and a nice message. But, as I read this I thought the worm was being treated a bit unfairly. Well, son of a gun, the book ends with the worm getting the last word and musing to himself that he has it pretty good also. I didn't see that joke coming, and thought it added a nice bit of finish to the tale.

A word must be said about the illustrator, Bill Slavin, because the drawings here are just remarkably clever and accomplished, and because illustrators as a general rule don't get nearly enough love. Bill Slavin is approaching Canadian-national-treasure status, and if you're looking for more good picture books you might do well to search his body of work. I'm a big fan of the "Stanley" (the dog) books he draws for Linda Bailey, but there are lots of different books to choose from, many with a clear Canada angle. In any event, this particular book works in no small measure because Slavin sells the ideas, and the personalities and attitudes of the characters, so well.

So, a thoughtful friendship tale involving very appealing animal characters, a lesson, and some upbeat jokes. I'm a happy little reader. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)