Alter Ego: Bear Outside by Jane Yolen

SOME FOLKS HAVE A LION INSIDE, OR A TIGER. NOT ME.

I WEAR MY BEAR ON THE OUTSIDE.

With her bear, like a suit of armor around her, the girl feels safe. In school he raises his big paw when he knows she knows the answer, and so does she. He keeps her safe when she climbs a tree and he reads books with her in their special tent at home. He protects her when she rides a bike and does fancy moves on her roller skates. Bear goes along when she does good deeds for the neighbors.

I TAKE CARE OF BEAR, AND BEAR TAKES CARE OF ME.

They pick juicy berries and find honey hives, and they're never afraid of the bees. At dinner they share--a chicken leg for her and the salad for her bear.

Sometimes they don't quite agree on blue or red.

SOMETIMES WE MAKE PURPLE INSTEAD.

And at bedtime when Mom leaves on the night light... she doesn't care.

IT'S FOR BEAR.

It's one for all and all for one with this girl and her alter ego, a big brown bear to share her fun and fears with, in Jane Yolen's latest, Bear Outside (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, 2021). An imaginary friend with plenty of clout, a big, furry bear is on the lookout through the day at school or play. And what kid wouldn't want a bear to always have his or her back?

Author Jane Yolen, author of the Caldecott-winning Owl Moon and the best-selling series beginning with How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, shares the honors this time with illustrator Jen Corace, whose brown bear is both brawny and cuddly and a bit transparent as an imaginary bear should be.

"Corace’s art perfectly matches Yolen’s words in this nuanced exploration of our inner selves," writes The New York Times Book Review."