Wherever Bears Be
by Sue Ann Alderson, illustrated by Arden Johnson
"Two girls who go berrying discover bears and learn that their fears of bears might be unfounded in this very
simple story of an encounter with berry-loving bears in the woods. Pure fantasy, yet whimsical and fun." --
The Children's Bookwatch
"Gr 1-3. Sent to the mountain to pick blueberries, Belinda and Samantha delight in scaring one another with
thoughts of bears. Each sound and shape becomes an imagined bear until further examination reveals a squirrel,
a raccoon, or a deer. The fanciful text consists of the dialogue between the two girls, and their voices are
indicated by different fonts. Johnsons capricious illustrations work better than the text. They have wonderfully
imagined bears and blueberries that rain joyously from the sky. As the girls leave the mountain, the trees appear
in the shape of a bears head, with dark spots designating its eyes, nose, and mouth. Readers who are comfortable
with a dreamlike reality may enjoy this frolic, but the more literal minded will be awash in the imagery. Those
looking for blueberries and bears will find Robert McCloskeys Blueberries for Sal (Viking, 1948) a less colorful
but more accessible story." -- The School Library Journal. By Jody McCoy, The Bush School, Seattle, WA
"When two girls go blueberry picking, every woodland noise they hear sounds like a bear to them. Though they're
initially relieved to meet no bears, at the end they're a little bit disappointed. Soft pastel illustrations show misty,
imaginary bears following the girls. The lyrical text, which consists only of the girls' dialogue, is somewhat stilted
and artificial-sounding." -- Copyright � 1999 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pictures that sing
"The quirky all-encompassing world of children's make-believe is one of the glories of picture books.
Sue Ann Alderson is a seasoned children's writer who also knows how to open worlds to children. Her classic, Ida and
the Wool Smugglers, kept imaginations and fantasies in high gear in our house more than a decade ago. Ann Blades'
illustrations made pioneer-living immediate and full of real dangers that any child could dream of braving, just as
Ida does.
In her newest work, Wherever Bears Be, Alderson employs a conversational structure similar to Stella: Star of the Sea.
Alderson's Belinda and Samantha go blueberry picking on a mountain and worry about bears.
This plot alone is indeed dangerous territory because of great classics such as Robert McCloskey's Blueberries for Sal
and Helen Oxenbury's We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Arden Johnson's illustrations of Belinda's and Samantha's expedition
use mixed media to create a humorous, fanciful adventure where reality and creative imaginations fuse together as easily
as the pastels and acrylics of her pictures. But the girls' conversations do not sit as well Alderson does not seem sure
whether the text is a flowing rhyme, free verse, or realistic conversation. The plot has great potential and it has
inspired such evocative illustrations." -- By Elizabeth MacCallum. Toronto Weekend Post Saturday, April 10, 1999
"In Vancouver writer Sue Ann Alderson's latest book, the bickering sisters Samantha and Belinda head up the mountain to
pick berries. Along the way, they imagine they see and hear bears everywhere. Samantha sings a song to keep them away,
but the girls' fear soon turns to longing to see the bears having fun. At the conclusion, the girls have picked their
berries, patched up their differences, and concluded that the bears are "some other where."
Like the enormously successful We're Going on a BearHunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, this text is carried by
its rhyme and rhythm, and its suspenseful anticipation of an encounter with the bears. It lends itself to a spirited
reading, though its alliteration, onomatopoeia, near-rhymes, and inverted syntax can make it a treacherous readaloud
on the first attempt.
The third voice in this text belongs to the imaginary bears, which Arden Johnson has drawn with great exuberance. They
half-appear on every other page, and readers will enjoy trying co find them, Waldo-style, in these scenes.
Wherever Bears Be does present challenges to the reader, but performing it with energy and some practice will surmount
these difficulties. It will appeal to children aged three to five. - By Laune McNeill, a Vancouver bookseller."
-- Quill & Quire. May 1999.
"Belinda and Samantha also think a lot about bears. In fact, whenever they go berry picking, they look for bears in Wherever Bears Be (by Sue Ann Alderson, illustrated by Arden Johnson; Tricycle, ages 4-8). After all they know bears like berries as much as they do. And as they journey deeper into the forest, lots of things begin to look and sound like bears. Like that creature under the bridge that turns out to be a raccoon. Anyway, they're not scared. Because if they met some bears, they could always drop their buckets and... dance." --By Kori Wergdond. The Seattle Times.
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