Promises to Keep: I Promise by David McPhail

LITTLE BEAR AND HIS MOTHER WERE PLAYING IN THE POOL BELOW THE WATERFALL."WILL YOU SING TO ME, MOMMA? SHOUTED LITTLE BEAR OVER THE ROAR OF THE WATERFALL.

"LATER, DEAR. I PROMISE!" SHE SHOUTS BACK.

"WHAT'S A PROMISE?" LITTLE BEAR ASKED.

Momma Bear and Little Bear are out for a lazy stroll in the woods, taking a swim in the stream, climbing an apple tree and trying out the fallen fruit, and visiting their favorite bee tree. It's a nice, slow-paced day, just right for talking about important things.

Mother says that a promise is something you say you will do in the future, and Little Bear follows with a good question.

"BUT WHAT IF YOU DON'T DO IT?"

Momma Bear explains that breaking promises hurts those to whom you make them, and Little Bear remembers a time he didn't keep a promise to a friend and nods thoughtfully. As they walk along the river, he asks his mother what else she can promise.

She says she definitely will lie in the grass and watch the clouds with him. As they share an apple, she promises to always give him good food that will make him grow big. That promise reminds Little Bear of something.

"WILL YOU SING TO ME NOW?" LITTLE BEAR ASKS.

"NOT NOW!" MOMMA BEARS LAUGHS, HER MOUTH FULL OF APPLE.

She does promise to teach him some things and let him discover some on his own, admitting that no one knows everything.

As they ramble homeward in the evening shadows, Little Bear comes up with a big question.

"DO YOU PROMISE I WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPY?"

Mother admits that she cannot make that promise, that it is one she alone cannot keep--that being happy is something he has to do for himself. Gently she adds...

"BUT I WILL ALWAYS DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO HELP."

And Momma Bear keeps her promise to sing to a tired Little Bear, as, safely back home, he falls asleep, in David McPhail's newest, I Promise (Little, Brown and Company, 2017). Famous for his lovely bear books, McPhail does not disappoint in this tender story of the bond between parent and child and the meaning of the love and loyalty that are the core of that bond. Artist McPhail provides his trademark soft watercolor and ink illustrations, with soft-textured furry bears in a reassuringly idyllic verdant forest where honey is there for the having.

This one is the perfect book for a child or for someone who loves a child.