Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Breaking News: Bear Alert
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Charlesbridge, 2014 ISBN: 978-1580896634
An episode of Our Furry Planet is being broadcasted live. The host of the show, Jean Louis, is in a bear cave with his cameraman, filming a pair of bears who are hibernating. Jean Louis says that soon the bears will wake up and they will be hungry for food. As he is talking he pokes one of the bears with a stick. What he does not realize is that his actions wake up the bear, and not surprisingly is gets mighty miffed that it has been disturbed.
The screen goes blank for a moment and then we are brought a “Breaking News” alert. A skycam shows viewers that the bears, who are now fully awake, are riding on the roof of the Our Furry Planet van. Jean Louis and the cameraman have no idea that they are taking two large, furry passengers to the city with them. They think that they escaped the bears that they so rudely woke up.
When they get to the city, the cameraman tells the media that he and Jean Louis scared the bears away, but it soon becomes clear how wrong he is. Security video from Teddy’s Diner shows the bears entering the establishment where they start eating whatever they can get their paws on. The bears then make their way down Main Street, and their progress is picked up by various cameras. Animal Control officers arrive on the scene but the bears are now in the Misses and Petites section in Paddington’s Department Store, and they in disguise
Young readers are going to love this clever picture book. The story is presented in such a way that we feel that we are watching the whole crazy bear alert situation on a screen. Young readers will see that in addition to the chaos created by the arrival of the bears in town, something else is going on. Eventually the two stories collide to bring the tale to a wonderful denouement.
