I LOVE YOU, MISTER BEAR

Wickstrom draws inspiration from her own family for a Corduroy-like episode featuring a child and a bear with a boo-boo. Rummaging through a yard-sale box, young Sosha finds a small fuzzy bear with a tear in its belly. She leaves it behind at first, but eventually comes back to claim it (“Daddy, maybe that shaggy old bear feels lonely”), takes it home, has it stitched up by a “doctor” (Mommy), then makes a set of clothes for it. Arranged into three discrete mini-episodes, this girl-meets-bear tale is told in simple cartoons over brief snatches of monologue, with a charm that perfectly captures that special relationship and should please all young listeners deeply attached to their plush companions. (Picture book. 3-6)