The Bear in My Family by Maya Tatsukawa

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Bear in My Family by Maya Tatsukawa Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Tatsukawa, Maya The Bear in My Family; written and illus. by Maya Tatsukawa. Dial, 2020 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-525-55582-7 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-525-55583-4 $10.99Reviewed from galleys R 3-6 yrs Our kid protagonist has the bad luck of living with a rather large bear who is "really loud, really bossy, and always hungry," but his parents seem to think the bear is just fine, despite their child's protestations. At the park, however, a big, strong bear comes quite in handy, first scaring bullies off with a roar and then pushing our protagonist to some serious heights on the swing. Viewers attentive to the illustrations and dialogue besides the narrative text will cotton onto the jokey metaphor of big sib as big bear soon enough, but there is still plenty of playfulness and giggles to be had here. Tatsukawa's digital art balances off-kilter geometry and soft textures, with our blackish, blockish bear lumbering around, appropriately dwarfing the brother, who sports an unfortunate bowl cut. Younger siblings will find this a refreshing change from the many books portraying the new baby as the problematic interloper, and they'll likely relate to the situation of finding your older sib to be both protector and tormenter. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois