Like any great picture book, the words do not tell the whole story in Emily Gravett's (Orange Pear Apple Bear) portrait of a friendship.
"Bear and Hare are going fishing," the story begins. The words appear on a pond-colored backdrop on the left, as Bear places a fishing hat on Hare's head on the right-hand page, with its white background. "Bear loves fishing!" and no wonder! Hare does all the work, lugging an umbrella, fishing net, tackle basket and cooler while Bear carries only the fishing pole. When Bear throws his line, he's often surprised. He hooks Hare's hat, nets a frog and lands a roller skate in the middle of the picnic Hare has set out so carefully. Gravett accentuates the humor through Hare's expressions. Hare looks so content with the formidable picnic spread, with a slight smile and ears straight up, then registers shock as the roller skate lands in the layer cake. Gravette uses the pond-colored page to excellent effect: Bear crosses the book's gutter--leaning out from a white background--to hold his fishing net over the pond, and Gravett fades out the portion that would be underwater. She also gives a hint of what's waiting as the finale. Something lurks in the deep. (Hare catches a fish, but not in any usual way.)
Bear's golden fur makes a nice complement to the teal-tinted pond, and Hare's cream-colored fur underscores a second-fiddle role--until Hare saves the day. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness