Review #17: Old Bear

Dad:  Today we are reviewing "Old Bear" by Kevin Henkes.  Do you guys know who Kevin Henkes is?
Isaac (age 10):  Who?
Dad:  He did "Chrysanthemum."  That's Mom's favorite picture book in the whole world.  And he did the book with Wemberly...  and Lilly with the purse...  all those little mouse books.
Lily (age 6):  "If You Take a Mouse to the Movies!"
Dad:  No... not that one.  Not every mouse book.
Lily:  Hee hee hee hee...
Gracie (age 8):  Kevin Henkes has a good imagination, because he doesn't put tails on his bears.
Lily:  Yes he does - see look.
Gracie:  No, no, no look on that page.
Isaac:  There's his tail.
Gracie: That's his leg.
Isaac:  No it isn't.
Dad:  Let's not argue about that.  Moving along...
Gracie:  "Old Bear" has such pretty colors.
Dad:  It looks like he did these all with watercolor.
Gracie:  We have watercolors!
Dad:  Maybe you guys could do your pictures at the end of our review with watercolor.
Gracie:  I like the colors.  When it's springtime in the book it's all pinks, purples.  And in the summertime there's all greens and blues.  And the fall is all oranges, reds.
Isaac:  Winter was such a pretty picture.
Gracie:  It was amazing.
Lily:  It's my favorite picture.
Isaac:  It's my favorite picture.
Gracie:  All the snow on the trees, and the sparkly sky...
Lily:  The stars look like flowers.
Gracie:  I like the colors!
Lily:  I like the colors!
Dad:  I take it you guys like the colors.
Gracie:  All the outlines in the pictures are black when the bear is in the real world.
Dad:  But when the bear dreams, then the outlines are...
Kids:  Purple!
Dad:  (flipping the page) and...
Kids:  Green!
Dad:  (flipping) and...
Kids:  Orange!
Dad:  and...
Kids:  Blue!
Dad:  depending on the...
Lily:  Weather!
Gracie:  The season.
Dad:  Then when you go back to the real world...
Isaac:  Black.  I like it better with the color lines.
Dad:  What was happening out in the world while Old Bear slept?
Gracie:  Hibernation.
Isaac:  The world was changing.
Lily:  All the weather.
Gracie:  The seasons.
Isaac:  And the seasons were changing in his dream also.
Dad:  Did he have a good dream?  Would you guys like it if it rained blueberries?
Lily:  Yeah!
Gracie:  Actually, I would like raspberries more...  but blueberries work.
Lily:  Blueberries are good because it's the color of the rain.
Isaac:  There is also a big flower sun.
Dad:  Where do you think Kevin Henkes got all his ideas?
Gracie:  His imagination.  Or maybe his own dreams!
Isaac:  First the bear dreams about sleeping -- probably his dreams dream about sleeping -- and the dream's dreams dream about sleeping...
Dad:  Anything else about the pictures?
Isaac:  When the bear is in the real world, there is white space around the picture.  But when he dreams, the picture goes to the edges.
Dad:  Except for one other time also...
Isaac:  The picture at the end.
Gracie:  When he thought he was dreaming.
Isaac:  It's pretty.  I wish that was our backyard.
Gracie:  I want to be a little pixie fairy who lives in that beautiful garden.
Isaac:  I think this book would teach kids creativity.
Gracie:  And imagination.
Isaac:  And seasons.
Lily:  And about bears.  They sleep aaaaaaaall 'til spring.
Isaac:  The cover of this book is cool!
Gracie:  The front cover is fall and snow, and the back is summer!
Dad:  Other than the seasons, the bear looks exactly the same on both sides of the cover...  the exact same pose.  See, if you open it up to look at the front and back at the same time...
Gracie:  Their buns are touching.
Lily:  Ha ha ha ha!
Dad:  Well, that's not what I...   yeah, I guess they are.

spring dream, by Gracie

spring dream, by Lily

spring dream, by Isaac

Author/Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Published, 2008: HarperCollins
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