Bear in Love
PreS-A bear awakes in his cave one morning and goes outside to look for food. On a rock nearby is an orange, pointy thing with green leaves at one end. He ventures to eat it and finds it, "Very good, yum, yum, yum; Very good indeed." After two more carrots are left on his rock, the bear decides to reciprocate with a something of his own-a honeycomb. He also tries to stay awake to see who the mysterious someone is who is leaving him presents, but he falls asleep instead. After two more exchanges, the bear and a shy bunny finally meet and contentedly share their mutual love of songs and food, on their way to what looks like a beautiful friendship. Pinkwater demonstrates a deft gift for writing for very young children, and the book is made more special by Hillenbrand's lovely pastel illustrations. They show the bear in the foreground in solid but subdued color against a delicate, barely discernible pattern of gray blue trees (and an occasional glimpse of bunny ears). The bear and the rabbit are very appealing, and the book as a whole begs to be read in storytime, possibly with other tales of unusual friendships.-Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LAα(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.