BEAR MEETS BEAR

A bear falls in love at first sight.

Bear is large, soft-textured, and dark purple. He lives in a human house. He and his roommate, a hat-wearing male spider, eagerly anticipate the delivery of a teapot they’ve ordered. When it comes, Bear falls head over heels for the delivery person. “Bear had never met such a charming lady bear. His heart beat fast.” The infatuation is based entirely on her appearance and is unidirectional: Delivery-person Panda only says plainly, “Package for Bear. Please sign here….Please sign for your delivery.” The language around Bear’s crush is explicitly romantic; the unrequited longing makes his “heart hurt.” Grant’s illustrations use pastel colors, unobtrusive tertiary colors, soft edges, gentle compositions, and mildly nubbly finishes. All this visual tranquility covers an aggressive plot. Bear, too nervous to speak to Panda during that first delivery, orders teapot after teapot, hoping fruitlessly each time for the courage to speak, making Panda return repeatedly; wingman Spider then questions local animals about where to find Panda for Bear. It’s a model of romantic pursuit that, if enacted by real human adults, would be a little stalkery. Bear gets what he wants—Panda—and, no longer vulnerable, shifts to laughing behind her back at her beverage preference: “ ‘Panda doesn’t like tea!’ Bear chuckled. ‘I mean, really! Everyone loves a cup of tea.’ ” Next time, they have lemonade instead, which is the happy ending.

The pushy suitor gets the girl.