ARE YOU THERE, BABY BEAR?

The cuddly, inquisitive cub Alfie (When Will It Be Spring?, 1998) returns, this time on a quest to find his “missing” baby sibling. Chafing at the seemingly interminable wait for the arrival of the new baby, Alfie becomes convinced that he or she must have gotten lost on the journey home. The eager bear cub explores the woods searching for the baby. Walters’s realistically rendered illustrations show Alfie on a merry chase as he mistakes one wild creature—a beaver swimming, a baby bison hiding, and a lounging mountain lion—after another for the baby bear. When Alfie’s father discovers his discouraged cub, he takes him to the one place Alfie didn’t search—home, where a new brother and sister are waiting. The lush nature scenes, populated by an array of lovable woodland animals, fill the pages, but this is a very human story, tempering this glimpse of a toddler’s single- minded perspective with compassion and gentle humor. (Picture book. 3-7)