Are You There, Baby Bear?
PreSchool-K-This sweet new-baby story concerns a family of bears. Alfie, who some readers may remember from Walters's When Will It Be Spring? (Dutton, 1998), is impatient for his brother or sister to arrive, but Mother says, "The new baby will come when it's ready." After a while, the cub decides that it must have lost its way in the snow and sets out to look for it. He keeps asking dark, fuzzy creatures if they are his new sibling, but one by one they are discovered to be a beaver, bison, and mountain lion. As the long day is ending, Father Bear finds Alfie in the woods and carries him home to meet his new brother and sister. The illustrations are realistic with unnaturally bright colors. It is difficult to imagine that these animals all populate the pond-mountain-forest area, and there are flowers (trilliums, even!) growing in the snow. Nevertheless, the pictures reflect the gentle charm of the story and Alfie's adventure has a warm, satisfying ending.Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, MECopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.