Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 12/01/2014 PreS-Gr 2—"It all started with the bear," begins this story of what happened to a sandwich. Bear wakes up to the delectable aroma of freshly picked berries. He sniffs out a red truck, the back of which is filled with boxes of perfectly harvested berries. After having a berry party, Bear falls asleep. The truck drives him to a new forest—the city. When Bear begins to explore, he sees things in the city framed by his own experiences: a telephone pole becomes a tree, and bricks on the side of a building make great bark for scratching. In a park, he finds a lunchbox with a delicious sandwich, which he eats ravenously. When he climbs a tree, he can see his forest home in the distance and desperately wants to return. Somehow, he finds a boat, which carries him to the familiar sights and sounds of home. "So that's what happened to [the] sandwich." This is a fun story that children will enjoy, though they'll need to suspend logic a bit. The illustrations in this book are terrific: color-drenched and bold slashes that cover the pages. The funny Bear is sympathetic and is only doing what bears do—eating and sleeping. And making us laugh. This book is a fine addition to any collection.—Mary Hazelton, formerly at Warren & Waldoboro Elementary Schools, ME - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 01/01/2015 “By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich,” begins the very unreliable narrator in this amusing picture book. His story? A woodland bear fell asleep in the back of a truck and awoke to find himself in the city. Searching for food, he made his way to the park, where he spied that “beautiful and delicious sandwich. All alone.” After devouring it, he noticed dogs watching him and quickly fled, leaping into a passing boat and eventually making his way home. The book’s last pages reveal a dog telling the tale to a little girl. She may or may not see the holes in his story, but many young listeners will enjoy solving the mystery and pointing out the thief. The text is cleverly written, but much of the story unfolds wordlessly in the soft-focus watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, which glow with light and color. The city scenes reward attention with intriguing, sometimes comical details. This is a picture book that kids will want to hear again immediately, once they know who is telling the story. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2015 Our narrator patiently explains to a listener how a bear rode from woods to city in a truck bed, entered the city park, found the listener’s unattended sandwich on a bench, and ate it. A spread near the story’s end begins to disclose the clearly culpable narrator’s identity in a perky pair of pointed black ears; the closing spread completes the reveal, featuring a black terrier finishing his “explanation” to a brown-skinned little girl: “I saw it all. I tried to save your sandwich. I was able to save this little bit of lettuce here.” The bear’s transport into the city (he supposedly ate the berry harvest in the back of the truck and then fell asleep there) and subsequent urban activities (climbing a clothesline, walking through wet cement, trying out playground equipment), all of which seemingly happens without human notice, are pretty unbelievable-but that’s the point, isn’t it? While the bear storyline is entertaining in itself, the ending twist will equally delight kids who love to spot untruths, and a second reading for hints as to the narrator’s credibility may well be in order. The loose, sometimes expressionistic strokes of acrylic paint with pencil illustrations helpfully-and amusingly-fill in the text’s scenarios with entertaining and vivid detail. The scenes of the baggy-bottomed black bear at the playground and sneaking up on the sandwich are particularly humorous, and the ingratiating tail-wagging and eager-to-please posture of the terrier add to the subtext of deceit. This has numerous language arts possibilities, and it would also make a lively addition to a food or bear-themed storytime. JH - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.