Suitable for All Occasions! BEAR Is a BEAR by Jonathan Stutzman

BEAR IS A BEAR FULL OF LOVE.

BEAR IS A SOFT, WARM PILLOW.

BEAR IS A NEW FRIEND.

To a young one, a big toy bear can be many things, a soft, snuggly sleeping partner, a special guest at a tea party, a lusty pirate, a fellow ghost for Halloween, and a big, strong protector in a scary storm. He goes on wild explorations outdoors, shares a story book or a telescope under a starry sky. . . He dries tears and shares hours of too much homework.

And then, when the child has grown and moves out into the big world, Bear goes into a storage chest.

BEAR IS A MEMORY.

But...

BEAR IS REMEMBERED....

BEAR is not forgotten in Jonathan Stutzman's just published masterwork, Bear Is a Bear (HarperCollins, 2021). This well remembered childhood toy is resurrected, an old friend who becomes a new companion for another child in another time.

Beautifully illustrated by Caldecott Medal artist Dan Santat, this just-published book joins stories those other memorable "lovies" of childhood, one to comfort and love and to live again in the life of another child. In the love of the giver--parent, grandparent, or family friend, such a Bear looms large in the life of a child who loves and depends on him, working the magic of a special toy, it seems, into the next generation.

Whether that special toy is stored away or just a well-remembered childhood friend, it livea in our minds as long as we have memories. Says Booklist, "... a tender and surprising tribute to the beloved companions of our childhoods."