Eye of the Beholder: Bear's Picture by Daniel Manus Pinkwater

That great bear of an author, Daniel Pinkwater, has an affinity for the ursine tale, and his just published Bear's Picture is no exception.

In this one Bear takes a notion to begin a painting with an orange squiggle, adds a touch of blue, and steps back to contemplate the effect. Two "fine proper gentlemen" stroll by and become instant art critics:

"Look here," said the first fine proper gentleman, "a bear painted a picture."

"Bears can't paint pictures," said the second fine proper gentleman.

"Why not? Why can't a bear do anything he likes?" asked the bear.

"Because! Bears aren't the sort of fellows who can do whatever they like," they both said.

"Besides... nobody can tell what it's supposed to be!"

The fine proper gentlemen hazard a few guesses--a butterfly perhaps, or a clown? Bear persists in his painting, adding a bit of purple, and suggests that it might be a honey tree, or a stream in a forest, or a hollow log.

"It doesn't look like any of those things," said the fine proper gentlemen.

"It doesn't have to." said the bear. "It's my picture."

Children will quickly identify with Bear as the surrogate for the kid who paints what he likes despite the criticism of grownups pushing for conventional color and form. His picture is what it is and Bear is happy with it as it is.

D.B. Johnson's stylistic and expressive paintings complement Pinkwater's wry text and help turn this gentle story into a powerful parable of art for art's sake.