Written by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Zachariah OHora
My rating: ★★★★
ISBN: 978-0316282833
Publisher: Little, Brown
Date of publication: April 5, 2016
Age: 3 - 6 years
Themes: anger, apologies, bears, friendship
Bear didn't mean to break a little girl's kite, but she's upset anyway—upset enough to shout "HORRIBLE BEAR!" Bear is indignant. He doesn't think he's horrible! Then Bear gets a truly Horrible Bear idea. What will he do next? As Bear prepares to live up to his formerly undeserved reputation, the girl makes a mistake of her own, and realizes that maybe—just maybe—Bear isn't as horrible as she had thought.
Another great book to address anger and how to deal with it. Plus, Dyckman even uses the word "indignant." I mean, not only are kids learning one way to deal with their anger, but getting a vocabulary lesson, too! The story (and the rest of the text) is pretty simple, but I appreciated the use of speech bubbles and varied typography to express the strong emotions of the story. Kids will have fun reading this, or having it be read to them. And OHora's illustrations are adorable, and I am a fan once again. It's childlike in its simplicity, but still captures emotions and textures. I don't know that this is an award winning, ground-breaking sort of book, but it's another good one to add to your read pile. Great for storytime, too (I'm adding it to my kite storytime repertoire).
It's a good readalike to OHora's other book No Fits, Nilson! (actually, I'd just add it to my temper tantrum book list) and goes well with the many bear books being released of late.
Find it at your library or on Amazon
