This darling picture book is the story of a young bear who is out exploring in the woods one day and finds something curious. He brings it back to his den and looks it over carefully. It was a piece of paper with writing on it. He kept it over the years and pulled it out often to look at it. He’d never seen anything like it before or since, and it became one of his treasures.
One day, he went wandering a little further than usual into the woods, and he came upon a cabin in a clearing. A woman sat outside, reading a book. He watched her for a long time, wondering what she was doing, and when she stood up, he ran away.
He came back again, and she was reading. Sometimes she’d laugh at what she’d read, and he wondered what she was holding that made her laugh. He was very curious and intrigued. He edged nearer and nearer to her, trying to solve the mystery.
One day when he went to her house, she wasn’t there, but her book was. He walked over to it and sniffed. He knocked it open with his paw. It was full of paper with writing on it, just like his own precious piece of paper. He started at it, wondering what it all meant. But then the woman came back and he ran away.
The next day he came back, and the woman called out to him. She had seen him looking at her book, and she wanted to show it to him again. She invited him to come closer, and he did, feeling a little shy at first.
She began to read him the story, and he sat down and listened. Her voice was gentle and calm, and as she imitated the voices of the characters, he could see them in his mind. He came back day after day just to listen to her read.
Winter approached and the woman told him she would be leaving soon. When he came to see her one frosty morning, he found all her books stacked up in the spot where they used to read. She had left them there for him so he could enjoy them while she was gone.
He gathered them up one at a time in his jaws and carried them to his cave. And all through the winter, he had fond memories of reading with her in the shady clearing.
This picture book is the perfect combination of great story/great illustrations.
(This book was published in 2002 by Harcourt and was illustrated by Jim LaMarche.)
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