Review: A must-read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 25, 2014
I have seen a boatload of picture books on Kindle, and while most seem like they were hastily created, with quality the least of the author’s priorities, some stand out for the obvious love and care and talent that the author/publisher poured into their creation. And one such outstanding book is Elaine Keller’s ‘Tale of Running Bear’—it is, for lack of a better word, beguiling.This is a picture book filled with timeless values—love, compassion, responsibility, confidence, belief, the list goes on—but the stories are told in such a way that the young people (and adults like myself) reading this would find themselves transported to enlightenment. It is a story about a couple’s encounter—and spiritual experience—with a bear they lovingly refer to as Running Bear. Readers will completely inhabit the book’s world—with its colourful, breathtakingly beautiful illustrations, I am sure ‘Tale of Running Bear’ is quite a reading experience. I don’t know, but reading it is what Anton Ego must have felt when he tasted that dish in ‘Ratatouille’—suddenly, he’s a small child again, enjoying his mother’s dish. Indeed, this book drips with so much emotional gravitas that while children I’m sure will delight in it, it does not do it justice to merely call this a “children’s book” because it’s much more.Overall, ‘Tale of Running Bear’ deserves a place in your shelf of select, “elbow” books—books you often reach out for when an occasion arises. Check out the first few pages, read the author’s backstory—I’m sure, like me, you’ll buy this in a heartbeat.