Benno's Bear [Hardcover]

Naomi Flink Zucker (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

It had always been just the three of them: Papa, Benno, and the bear. Papa would play his concertina while the bear danced and Benno stole coins out of people's pockets. Papa was proud of Benno's quick hands, and Benno was proud of his bear. He would brush her fur until it shone, sneak her extra scraps of food, and protect her from Papa's anger, which could make the earth shiver.

But one day Benno forgets Papa's words, "Quick in, quicker out." Papa is thrown in jail, and the bear is sent to the zoological park. Now Benno must discover how to navigate a new world where he has to mind his manners, go to school, learn to read, and dare to trust the kindly policeman and his wife who have taken him in. After so much change, will he ever find his way back to his bear and to Papa-and will Papa accept his son's new world?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-Set in Central Europe, this first-person narrative tells of Benno, a lightning-quick pickpocket who, along with his father and his beloved bear, has been caught as the novel opens. While his father is sentenced to prison for seven months and the bear is caged at the zoo, a kindly, childless police officer takes pity on the motherless 11-year-old boy, and brings him home to the bakery his wife runs. Benno's confusion at living with the former enemy and his reaction to having enough food, new clothes, and the opportunity to go to school are poignant. He realizes that he needn't hoard food or steal money. And, more importantly, he learns the power and wonder of reading. Wrongly accused of stealing the teacher's purse, he runs away, releases the bear, and heads for the forest. He quickly realizes that, while the animal belongs in the forest, he belongs in the city, preparing for his father's return. The bear exhibits improbable understanding and empathy about this decision. Indeed, the creature seems smarter than some of the lesser-developed secondary characters. In an ending that is just a bit too saccharine and neat, Benno decides to live with his father, work in the early mornings at the bakery, and continue his schooling. Themes of loneliness and separation are woven into questions of loyalty and of what constitutes a family. The strong message of the magic and importance of reading will warm librarians' hearts.

Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 4-7. Accompanied by his fierce father and beloved pet bear, Benno expertly picks pockets in the marketplace of his Central European city. When he's caught, father and bear are sent away, but Benno is taken in by a good-hearted family that owns a bakery. With them, he finds security, education, and love, until another accusation of theft sends him fleeing and forces him to reconcile his old life with a new future of hope and honesty. The powerful story flirts with fantasy and fairy tale: Benno and his bear have a profound psychic link and fantasy helps sustain Benno through his bleakest moments. But Zucker keeps the telling rooted in the basic needs, emotions, and sensory details that show Benno's disorientation and struggle and will transport readers to icy streets, dark forests, and the warm bakery. Like Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, this deeply affecting first novel is a wonderful, nostalgic adventure story that swings from despair and abuse to delicious comfort from well-meaning adults. In the end, though, it's the child who must rescue himself. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1st edition (October 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525465219
• ISBN-13: 978-0525465218
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,449,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Boy, A Bear, A Wonderful Story, November 3, 2001

By 

Hara Bedora (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Benno's Bear (Hardcover)

Benno's Bear by N.F. Zucker is the best children's book I've read in ages. The plot is unique and engaging, but it was the author's vivid descriptions that really drew me in. In elegant yet simple prose, Zucker renders a child's inner voice with perfect pitch. The book is filled with uncannily realistic descriptions of sounds and smells, and the noises and movements of animals are particularly evocative. Though the story's setting and events involving pickpockets and a dancing bear may be unfamiliar to young readers, Benno's dilemmas are not bound by time or place. Benno's conflicted feelings about his father and his frustrations in school are emotions that most children will find familiar, even if they have never experienced them in the context that Benno does. In fact, Benno's bond with his bear came across so strongly that I cried when he was separated from her! Despite the sadness of some elements of the story, this book provides enjoyable and thought-provoking reading, and I would highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as engaging as I thought it would be..., March 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Benno's Bear (Hardcover)

Benno and his father own a bear, and that bear is what provides their meals, rent money and, most importantly, friendship for Benno. The bear isn't the only method of income, though, as Benno's father has taught Benno how to be the best pickpocket in central Europe (called "the work" in the story). Even though Benno has certain talent, he does get caught one day, is separated from his father and his bear, and finds there is a lot more to life than what he's known. Benno never gives up on getting his bear back, and eventually everything works out for the best.

I found the beginning of the book a bit confusing--Zucker jumps around a bit before we find out what has happened. Benno's character is likeable, but I never felt connected with him, and so I didn't feel the pain of separation from his bear, and I didn't sense his loyalty to his father, even when he decided to stay with him at the end. The plot is original, and Zucker has painted an interesting world. I would consider this an additional purchase.

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative Tale of Boy and Beast, July 24, 2003

By 

Stephanie Rivera (West Kingston, Rhode Island United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Benno's Bear (Hardcover)

I saw a thumbnail review of this book, and the author's comment of how she came to write it, intrigued me enough to buy a copy, ostensibly for my grandson, but really for myself. It seemed she was traveling by train in Eastern Europe and out of her window she noticed a large bear on a chain disappearing into a crowd of people. From that brief observance was born the inspiration for this marvelous story about a small boy, his overbearing father, and the trained bear that provided them with a living. The book opens with both boy and bear imprisoned in adjoining cells, and from that moment it becomes more than a book for young people, but a story for all ages. The characters are realistically drawn, yet there is still a sense of wonder and hope in the portrayal of the boy's efforts to overcome the obstacles to his own safety and happiness. His loyalty to the animal he has helped raise from a cub and to his miserable father, who knows no other life than that of hardship and cruelty, portray the courage of youth despite the setbacks of poverty and loneliness. How his plight is resolved is played out in a elegiac summer that is both mystical and real. A rare and exquisite rendering of a master storyteller.