Children’s picture book about a teddy bear and an envious dog
This is another book gifted to us that has made its way onto my toddler’s bookshelf. For those of you here for the adult books, I just have a few more kid’s book reviews to do and it’s back to regular programming for a while.
“This is the Bear” by Sarah Hayes and illustrated by Helen Craig is a children’s picture book about a teddy bear who finds itself caught up in a garbage truck after a cheeky dog called Fred drops him in the rubbish bin. A race ensues as the bear’s boy rushes to find his beloved toy among mountains of rubbish.
This is a fun, adventurous story with an unusual setting that explores the unglamourous but necessary ecosystem of rubbish removal. Despite being a simple premise, the characters in this story are well-rounded and memorable. The optimistic bear, the plucky and determined boy, but most of all the rouguish dog Fred and his redemption at the end. The illustrations are done in a classic style with watercolour and ink, busy and and muted in a way that complements the rubbish dump setting. There is a real emphasis on expression in this book that I think is a great opportunity for discussing more complex emotions and tone like envy, worry, insistence, crankiness, resignation, relief, smugness, trust and surprise.
As much as I appreciate this story, I think it is a little old for my toddler and would better suit an older reader. As much as she likes bins, dogs and bears, I think there is probably a bit much nuance in this story. I do look forward to sharing it with her more when she is older. However, one thing that I did notice was the distinct lack of female representation in this book. Despite being written and illustrated by women, there aren’t any female characters (with the exception of background bus passengers). The teddy bear, boy and dog are all male, and even the other toys are coded male. Any of the characters could have been made female without impacting the story.
A timeless and amusing story ideal for early primary school aged children that could probably used a little more female representation.
