Beary Scary! The Night Bear by Ana and Thiago de Moraes

Do bears in the night bring scares in the night?
Nightmares in the night? Frights in the night?
No. Quite the contrary.

At night, when it's dark and quiet,
the Night Bear hops onto a night bus
and sets off to find his dinner.
Tonight he is in luck.
Lots of children have left nightmares out.
And nightmares are the Night Bear's favorite food.

Monsters with hideous eyes
taste like burgers and fries.

Nobody likes nightmares. Nobody likes sleepytime scares. Except for--the Night Bears.

There is a nightmare for every Night Bear's craving. Storms that crash taste like sausage and mash, and pirates that are mean taste of strawberries and cream.

But then the Night Bear finds a different sort of dream in the trash bin. It is unicorns soaring on rainbows, and they are--

DISGUSTING!

BLEEEACH! But the Night Bear hates to waste any dream, however unsavory it may seem. So he trudges through the dark street looking for whomever might have tossed such a thing out, until he spots little Tom in his window. He is pleased to receive the icky unicorns and rainbow dream. And he returns the favor with a box holding a dream he finds most unsavory.

Spiders and a giant snake.
They taste like chocolate cake!

So, as the Night Bear boards the Night Bus, his work here done, Tom toddles off to sweet dreams witj rainbow and unicorn scenes.

Sweet dreams, goodnight.
Hope the Night Bear comes tonight!

We may not know where nightmares come from, but now we know where they go, in Ana de Moraes whimsical tale of bad dreams and good bears, The Night Bear (Anderson Press, 2019). Author de Moraes keeps the charming rhymes coming, as artist Thiago de Moraes provides the burly but benevolent bears and quaint old-fashioned streets of the dark town that make this story unique.

For more rhyming nightmare snacks, the creators of this picture book offer back endpapers bursting with such nightmare tidbits as "a scary yeti who tastes like spaghetti," "slithering snakes like chocolate pancakes," and "banshees that scream who taste like custard cream." and front endpapers that show how to make a special box in which to leave a ghastly treat for your very own Night Bear.

"Vampires that play taste like creme brulee? YUM!" says Booklist's starred review.