Bear Island
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Louise and her family are sad over the loss of their beloved dog, Charlie. "Life will not be the same," Louise says, as she visits a little island that Charlie loved.
But on a visit to the island after Charlie's death, something strange happens: She meets a bear. At first, she's afraid, but soon she realizes that the bear is sad, too. As Louise visits more often, she realizes that getting over loss takes time. And just when she starts to feel better, it's time for Bear to bed down for the winter.
Once again, Louise believes that life will not be the same. But sometimes, things can change for the better, and on the first warm day of spring, her family welcomes a new member. Here is a lovely, poignant story about loss and healing that will bring comfort to even the youngest readers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a house by a lake, Louise and her parents mourn the loss of Charlie, their dog. There's an island on the lake, and Louise rows out there in angry turmoil, painted in sepia scenes by Caldecott Medalist Cordell (Wolf in the Snow). She waits for something to happen, but there's only silence. "I'm leaving!" she shouts, thwacking a stick against a tree. Butterflies emerge, and deer, and then there's a noise "a snapping of trees noise... a chuffing of breath noise" and a bear appears. The bear, Louise sees in his defeated posture and sad expression, has also suffered a loss. Louise returns to the island throughout the summer and fall; Cordell portrays her as a scribbly, friendly pink-sinned figure and the bear as a massive, magnificent one. Vignettes show the two as they travel through their grief together: "Some days, only Louise was better. Some days, only Bear was better." But both heal, slowly, a change traced across the seasons via an imperceptible transformation to full color. In a story that respects grief's slow pace, Cordell's writing and artwork together carry grace, economy, and heart. Ages 2 5.
