Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories

by Jarvis, Jarvis (Illustrator)

Overview

“Blends warmth and cheeky humor. . . . Bear and Bird easily earn a place between Lobel’s classic friends Frog and Toad and Clanton’s loveable duo Narwhal and Jelly.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Bear and Bird are best friends, and they spend a lot of time together. They don’t always understand each other, but both agree that all they want is for their friend to be happy. So when Bear forgets the most important thing to pack for a picnic (but pretends that he didn’t), Bird doesn’t let on that she knew all along. And when Bird is upset to discover her friend has more of a certain talent than she does, Bear finds a touching way to make her feel better. Whether it’s the tale of a missing Bird and a “talking” flower that has Bear bewildered or that of a blanket whose irresistible coziness inspires a comic misunderstanding, Jarvis’s well-honed timing combines with gentle humor and genuine affection that will have readers eager for more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536235623
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Series:	Candlewick Sparks Series
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	709,730
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Jarvis is the author-illustrator of Alan’s Big, Scary Teeth; Tropical Terry; Follow Me, Flo!; and The Boy with Flowers in His Hair, among other picture books, as well as the illustrator of Pick a Pine Tree, Pick a Pumpkin, and Pick a Perfect Egg, all by Patricia Toht. Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories is Jarvis’s first foray into chapter books. An animator who has worked as a record jacket designer and an animation director, he lives in Manchester, England.

Editorial Reviews

Jarvis’s digital drawings, in beautiful colors, have an attractive handmade feel.
—The New York Times Book Review

Four short, episodic stories about best buds Bear (a cuddly brown bear) and Bird (an adorable bluebird) make up this irresistibly funny beginning chapter book. . . Jarvis’ soft, rounded illustrations are invitingly childlike, and they amplify a situation’s humor or sweetness. . . . Readers will chuckle at the duo’s well-intentioned mistakes and be utterly charmed by the genuine affection and kindness they display toward each other.
—Booklist (starred review)

This breezy easy reader follows pals Bird and Bear through several days of quotidian (mis)adventures, giving readers a playful, accessible entry into solo reading. . . . The narrator’s wry voice blends warmth and cheeky humor . . . . Crayon-like textures and dappled colors set against sepia backgrounds create an old-fashioned coziness. . . Sweet but not saccharine, clever but not precious, Bear and Bird easily earn a place between Lobel’s classic friends Frog and Toad and Clanton’s loveable duo Narwhal and Jelly.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Bear and Bird are the best of friends. . . the pair navigates misunderstandings and hurt feelings, always managing to remember how much they value each other so they can turn a difficult situation into a happy one. . . . Jarvis skillfully writes about small adventures and emotional upheavals of childhood. With thick outlines, friendly curved shapes, and touches of humor, loose, cheerful digital illustrations on almost every page make the book approachable.
—The Horn Book

Jarvis (The Boy with Flowers in His Hair) creates two sweet-looking creatures—a brown bear with a round nose, and a small, blue bird with a feathery cowlick. . . the duo’s charming exchanges will elicit giggles.
—Publishers Weekly

The book’s digital illustrations exude amiability. . . entertaining.
—The Wall Street Journal

Jarvis’ soft, fuzzy illustrations have an approachable hand-drawn look, just as his stories have an easygoing warmth. . . This genial easy-reader skips through minor mishaps and misunderstandings, picnics and paintings and cozy blankets, as Bear and Bird make it clear that the one thing they enjoy the most is their companionship.
—The Virginian Pilot

In four short stories that are vibrantly illustrated, funny misunderstandings lead readers/listeners to the solid conclusion that more than anything, both friends like to make each other happy.
—The Reading Eagle

When you’ve that child that’s read all the Frog and Toads they could get their hands on, and they’ve long since left Elephant & Piggie behind, consider a final friendly pairing. Consider Bear and Bird and all their myriad adventures from the small to the slightly less small but always cozy. Raw charm on the page.
—A Fuse #8 Production

From the Publisher

04/10/2023

In this uneven chapter book, Jarvis (The Boy with Flowers in His Hair) creates two sweet-looking creatures—a brown bear with a round nose, and a small, blue bird with a feathery cowlick—and tells four stories about their difficult friendship. In the first, Bird tumbles into a big red blossom, and her voice, calling for help, leads Bear to believe that he has met a talking flower—to which he tells “silly” stories about his friend. In “The Picnic,” Bear fails to pack the things he promised to take, but his finesse (“We could eat the picnic that I have most definitely packed. But...”), coupled with Bird’s unwillingness to call him out, sidesteps conflict. In “The Painting,” Bird’s discovery that Bear paints more realistically than she does results in an art-related mistruth. And in “The Blanket,” Bear is so delighted with his fuzzy throw (“Oh, what a blanket you are... I’m going to call you Suzie”) that Bird concludes she’s been abandoned. While the duo’s charming exchanges will elicit giggles, Bird seems always to get the short end of the stick, and each vignette’s comedy is based on misunderstandings that never feel fully resolved. Ages 5–9. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2023-02-25
Four slice-of-life stories starring best friends Bear and Bird.

In the first—and slightly mean-spirited—tale, Bird sits on a flower, falls in, and get stuck. Bear hears the “flower” crying and decides to cheer it up by regaling it with stories of Bird’s “silly” mistakes. Unsurprisingly, this fails to amuse Bird. Bear smells the flower, and his subsequent sneeze inadvertently frees Bird. He proceeds to show Bird the “talking flower,” and, in a role reversal, Bird now deems Bear silly for believing a flower could speak. In the next story, Bear falsely claims that he has prepared for their picnic and then, to avoid getting caught lying, offers alternatives to all of the supplies he was supposed to bring, successfully escaping consequences—with a final reveal that Bird was aware but played oblivious to keep Bear happy. Next, Bird is jealous of Bear’s painting talent, so Bear cheers her up by lying about liking Bird’s artwork (which backfires when Bird makes Bear’s house a ton of paintings). In the final story, jealous Bird frets that Bear seems to prefer a new friend—but in fact he’s just been spending time snuggling with his beloved blanket. The art—digitally rendered thick-lined watercolorlike images on sepia—is large and far more attractive than the friendship model presented, with characters too often relying on lies to fix their problems.

Goes too far in avoiding moralistic characters and instead actively endorses bad behavior. (Chapter book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews