Un-BEAR-able! Louis by Tom Lichtenheld

The lot of a much-loved Teddy bear is not an easy one.

Take Louis, for example.

FROM DAY 1,

THINGS HAVE GONE DOWNHILL.

Right out of the birthday box, Louis has suffered indignities at the hands of his boy. He's been used to blow a runny nose, force-fed to a toothy dinosaur toy, buried alive in the sandbox, tossed into a swishy washing machine and hung out to dry by his ears. He's been nibbled by a pugnacious puppy, sewn up without benefit of medication, sent through airport X-Ray, and most ignoble of all... left behind on the seat of a city bus.

I CAN BEAR IT NO LONGER.

One more chokehold from that kid, and Louis is checking outta there!

But Louis has to make plans before he makes a move. Makes no sense to run away while it's raining, Louis rationalizes, as his boy carries him carefully under a big umbrella. He can't leave until Little Sister is done needing him as a guest of honor for her tea party--and anyway, those cupcakes will provide energy for the big getaway. But as soon as he's done starring as Exhibit One in a show-and-tell drama about the time he was left on the bus.... he's gonna be outathere!

That night, as his boy puts on his PJs for bedtime, Louis is ready to make his move....

I'M MAKING LIKE A TREE AND LEAVING!

Or not! It could always be worse. After all, the boy needs him to snuggle to sleep in bed, and, in the notable Tom Lichtenheld's latest, Louis (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020), the sometimes ill-treated LOUIS joins all those jolly but headstrong toy bears of children's literature, from Winnie the Pooh to Paddington to Corduroy, and kids will doubtless want to read more of this endearing character. Lichtenheld is responsible for having a hand in some of the most witty and beloved picture books of the last decade as author and/or artist, and in this effort his storytelling is perfect. Here author Lichtenheld he enjoys the delightful artwork of Julie Rowan-Zoch, who is as skilled as he in evoking the personality of this grumpy, but lovable little plush bear who teaches that love and loyalty are worth the ups and downs of daily life together. For more of Tom Lichtenheld's work, see reviews here.