Matthew Burgess

"When the gift of a balloon floats into Bear's life, the two companions embark on a journey of discovery as small as a clearing in the forest . . . and as deep as the sky"--

The Bear and the Moon

renee badenoch

Amazing, gorgeous, incredible. 

The Bear and the Moon tells the story about a bear cub who finds a balloon and spends a few days playing with it, before accidentally popping it. The book is surprisingly profound. The loss of the balloon feels to the bear like the loss of a friend, and the book could be read as a gentle exploration of death. The cub also feels shame after popping the balloon, "The sky had sent him a gift, a friend, a small red moon. And now it was gone. Bad bear, he thought. Bad, bad, bear" This negative self-talk is later countered by an encounter with the moon, "It reached down to him and gently stroked his fur. Quietly, the moon was speaking to the bear, and the bear understood. Good bear. Kind bear. Don't worry, bear." What a great, great starting point for caregivers with children who experience anxiety, self-doubt, and negative self talk to teach children to be kind to themselves. (and what a great reminder for adults who experience the same things as well!) 

While I loved the book for the deeper metaphorical readings one could have, it's also a joyful, silly book. I love and have loved Cátia Chien for ages now, and her illustrations bring so much fun to the book. You can tell she worked in comics in some parts, as the bear seems to move in a sequential, comic-book style action sequence, but without the rigid borders of a comic. In fact, the book seems to have no rigidity at all. There's no hard lines, even the bear himself is drawn like a giant, fuzzy scribble. The language in parts of the book is a delight, too. I laughed when Burgess described the bear tumbling "into a furry puddle" and again when the bear is showing the balloon around and announces, "And this is the spot where I sit on the pot." 

CALDECOTT WINNER 2020?!?!

The Bear and the Moon

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