NOP

A lowly stuffed bear literally rises to the occasion as he embarks on an extraordinary adventure.

“Nop was not plush in places.” The book’s opening sentence appears under an image of a scruffy but winsome fabricated bear, in expertly rendered line art with watercolor wash. The following pages emphasize the endearing plainness of the bear and then evoke a lonely atmosphere: “In a place soft with dust, he sat and watched crumbhawks tumble…over the heaping heaps of goods, old and rumpled, at Oddmint’s Dumporeum.” There is magic afoot: Every night, tea lights illuminate the old place as its cast-off inhabitants get ready for the next morning, when customers arrive to purchase toys and other objects. Nop alone is unable to make himself look fancy enough. After Nop’s co-residents have been bought by humans, Nop fashions himself a bow tie from a bit of red ribbon and suddenly has a revelation: “A bear in a bow tie can go anywhere, someplace wonderful even!” He sews a silken contraption—a hot air balloon sans fuel—and the wind pulls him out of the window previously used by the crumbhawks (or sparrows). As he tumbles about and soars over cities below, exciting, poetic text—begging to be read aloud—and dreamlike art will continue to beguile youngsters. Though Nop takes risks, the tone is always soothing. His final, surprising destination—replete with a subtle change from muted colors to brighter ones—supplies an ending both humorous and heartwarming.

By turns thrilling and tender—a charmer.