BEAR MAKE DEN

A bear makes a den a home.

Written in what might be described as stereotypical caveman speech, the halting, sparse text describes an anthropomorphic bear’s ongoing efforts to set up housekeeping. At first the bear’s alone in a barren den dug out of a hillside, having presumably followed instructions from a book entitled How Make Den. Initially satisfied with the cave, the bear soon realizes that the “den need…” many things. Quite the handy-bear, ideas and tools help produce furniture and, later, food, because all the hard work leads to a rumbling tummy: “Bear need…cake!” Satiated but bored, the bear decides, “Den need… / game.” Ultimately, all of the steps toward making the den a home make the bear want to share it with others, so “DEN NEED BEARS!” and attracts a bevy of ursine friends to make merry at book’s end. Joyner’s ink drawings with digital color are appealing in their humorous depictions of the industrious, jovial protagonist bear, and their achievement ultimately outshines the text. It’s one thing to have a spare text but quite another to have one that doesn’t seem to have a reason for its unorthodox, halting phrasing.

Book need grammar.