There are books that ease the transition for the first day of school, so why not for a first visit to the library? The creators of A Visitor for Bear team up for another adventure that's sure to inspire lines to sign up for a library card.
Mouse shows up at Bear's house and announces, "We are off!" Bear had agreed to accompany his friend to the library, but he's having second thoughts. He indicates the mantel above his fireplace where six books sit spine-out (he holds a seventh in his paw) and replies, "I have all the books I need right here." But Mouse insists, "Oh, there are many delightful books in the library." Are there ever! "In the library were more books than Bear had ever thought there could be," writes Becker. MacDonald's watercolors depict endless shelves, each with an icon as a key to the contents (a person for biography, a baseball bat for sports, etc.). As Bear slouches miserably, clutching his roller skates as if he can't wait to leave, Mouse searches for the "perfect" book for Bear. After inspecting books about rocket ships, wooden canoes and dancing pickles, Bear's words of rejection climb in volume until he's shushed by someone attending the storytime hour on the other side of the stacks.
MacDonald gracefully chronicles Bear's body language as he shifts from resistance against Mouse's suggestions to the seduction of storytime, where the librarian reads about a "Very Brave Bear." Let's just say that by book's end, Bear's mantel is full. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness