One Bear Extraordinaire

by Jayme McGowan

Overview

Bear is a rambling musician. An entertainer. A legend. One Bear Extraordinaire.

Bear wakes up one morning with a song in his head, but something is missing. What’s a one-bear band to do? He travels the forest in search of his song and meets a few other musicians along the way, but even with their help, his song still feels incomplete. Will Bear find the perfect accompaniment and learn that every song sounds sweeter with friends by his side?

Jayme McGowan brings Bear and his merry band to life with intricate and innovative threedimensional cut-paper art that is nothing short of extraordinary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419716546
Publisher:	Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/08/2015
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jayme McGowan is a three-dimensional cut-paper artist who lives in Northern California. One Bear Extraordinaire is her picture-book debut. Visit her online at roadsideprojects.com.

Editorial Reviews

06/15/2015
With a backpack stuffed with musical instruments, “Bear was a rambling musician. An entertainer. A legend.” In McGowan’s debut, he learns that being part of a band is even more rewarding than life as a solo artist. As Bear travels the forest, he befriends banjo-strumming Fox, accordion-wielding Raccoon, and others. No Bremen Town Musicians, these animals make great music together, and a small hiccup—Wolf Pup doesn’t seem to have a knack for any instrument—is quickly resolved when he makes his vocal talents known. McGowan’s writing has a pleasing musical lilt (“And so they trekked and they tramped, on and on, into the valley, where they heard a fiddle on the wind”), but it’s her artwork that really stands out. Creating carefully assembled three-dimensional scenes from hand-painted cut-paper elements, McGowan’s layered images have a rusticity that’s in keeping with her itinerant musicians’ free-spirited mind-set (the accordion folds of Raccoon’s accordion are an especially charming touch). It’s a fine choice for those whose preferred song is that of the open road. Ages 4–8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

It’s an entertaining story of acceptance and community with wonderful, juicy words like ‘footslogged,’ but the art is what really stands out.” – Julie Danielson of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Julie Danielson

McGowan's intricate papercut art and playful cast of characters are guaranteed to put a smile on your face and leave you howling with delight.

Huffington Post

Beautifully designed, richly colored cut-paper illustrations effectively show the movement implicit in Bear’s musical search while allowing each character’s unique personality to shine through. Sweeping landscapes alternate with scenes in rustic frames that give the effect of placing the characters on a stage. There is much to relish in this story of camaraderie.”

Booklist

"The book is beautifully written, and playfully illustrated by McGowan’s intricate three-dimensional cut paper illustrations. A note discusses how she designed, cut, assembled, and layered each piece of artwork, staging miniature scenes in a paper theater, which she then photographed for her book."

School Library Connection

"I would challenge anyone not to be charmed by the artwork in this book. Ms. McGowan's debut shows an infectious love for her craft and for picture books. From Bear's potbelly to the band's instruments, there is a gentle simplicity to this story that should be savored."

Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Erin Stead

Beautifully designed, richly colored cut-paper illustrations effectively show the movement implicit in Bear’s musical search while allowing each character’s unique personality to shine through. Sweeping landscapes alternate with scenes in rustic frames that give the effect of placing the characters on a stage. There is much to relish in this story of camaraderie.”

Booklist

09/01/2015
PreS-Gr 2—Bear is a "rambling musician" and composer who plays triangle, tambourine, xylophone, drums, harmonica, trumpet, and cowbell, but mostly guitar. Dressed in jeans and a red and white cap and carrying instruments and camping gear on his back, Bear meets a succession of other pants-wearing woodland animal musicians. Each of them adds something to Bear's unfinished song, except Wolf Pup, who fails at every instrument he tries. When the moon rises, however, Wolf Pup adds his voice, the very sound Bear had been missing all along. The story is a musically inflected version of the reams of picture books about finding one's individual gifts; the art is the real star here. Collage, drawing, and three-dimensional layered cut-paper illustrations photographed by the author-illustrator will reward close looking. The bright-eyed animals and their exquisite paper accessories (from buttons to s'mores) have a dollhouse charm. VERDICT This gentle, folksy tale will be a harmonious addition to many collections.—Sarah Stone, San Francisco Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2015-06-29
Themes of inclusivity and individuality will strike chords with readers in McGowan's debut picture book. The story opens with the titular Bear, who is described as "a rambling musician. An entertainer. A legend." When he comes up with a new song, however, he feels that "something is missing." He sets out to discover what this "something" is, and in spread after double-page spread, he encounters various instrument-playing creatures who join with him to form a band. A twist comes when they encounter Wolf Pup, who doesn't have an instrument. Good intentions come up short as Bear empties out his backpack to try to find something that will do: "Anyone can play it," Bear says of a kazoo, and a forlorn little Wolf Pup sits with it dangling from his mouth by the group's campsite. In a happy turn of events that lends agency to the group's littlest member, that night, Wolf Pup howls while they play their music, adding just the right "something" to the song. "We've got ourselves a singer!" Bear exclaims. McGowan's art, three-dimensional illustrations of painted, cut, assembled, and photographed scenes, is a wonder to behold in its ingenuity and animation. Now all this story needs is an audience, and it's sure to drum one up. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews