The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

by Julia Sarcone-Roach

“It all started with the bear.” An unknown narrator weaves an impossible... read more

“It all started with the bear.” An unknown narrator weaves an impossible story to account for someone’s missing lunch in a picture book pairing a straightforward narrative with beautifully realized illustrations, whimsical in their impossibility. The bear, it seems, fell asleep in the back of a truck full of berries and ended up in a new forest (a city), where he found “climbing spots” (fire escapes, clothes lines between buildings), “good bark for scratching” (a brick-sided building), and “many interesting smells” (garbage cans). Eventually the bear got hungry, and there was the sandwich, all alone in the midst of leafy green (on a bench in a park). An already delightful story takes an even more waggish turn in its final pages when the identity of the speaker and subject are revealed: a small black dog (somewhat bear-like) pouring out the tall tale to a now lunch-less little girl. The warm, colorful acrylic and pencil illustrations are superb; their realistic accounting of the bear’s adventure will be a source of glee for young readers and listeners, as will the play between narrative and art. (Ages 3–6)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2016

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