In the middle of a wintry night, deep in the forest, Urso Brunov hears a cry for help carried over the cold winds. Wolves are on the prowl and two young polar bears are lost in the forest. Though he may be the size of a thumb, who is Urso Brunov if he is not the Little Father of All Bears? Traversing snow-laden forests on the backs of stags and crossing wide seas atop a whale, this tiny yet brave hero returns the two lost polar bear cubs to the Land of Rainbow Lights—and is treated to a grand celebration in the land of ice before returning home in a wondrous moonlit flight on the back of a goose.
In the age-old tradition of tall tales, Redwall author Brian Jacques shows us storytelling at its finest in this spirited adventure.
A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool--as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright--Brian Jacques (1939-2011) was the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques was well-known for applying his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England. Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact. He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing. "My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy The Iliad and The Odyssey at this dusty used book shop.)" This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life. After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic. Jacques passed away in February of 2011 at the age of 71.
This review is from: Urso Brunov and the White Emperor (Hardcover)
Jacques does it again, almost.
The first Urso adventure was such a hit in our home, the kids asked for it over and over and even the parents around here could not help but recite the wonderful rhymes and adventure bits '... for I am Urso Brunov!'
The White Emperor is just as fanciful and Urso just as big as a bear the size of your thumb can be, but... and I am yet unclear exactly what the but it, but its seems as if a piece of magic or heart is not quite conveyed to make us all want to read it every night again and again and recite the details over and over.
Do not take that to mean however, that we read it once and put it away... on the contrary, it seems to be a creeper of sorts making the bedtime list first every ten days to once a week to now every three or four days.
If you are an Urso fan, by all means grab this one up. If you are purchasing an Urso tale for the first time, go with the original first.
And lets all intend Brian Jacques keeps adding on to this Bears's memoirs!
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The Little Father of All Bears may only be a few inches tall, but he is a commanding figure nonetheless, and also brave and a creative problem-solver. He demands respect, but he puts up with a lot from his children, too. In this story he goes to the rescue of some polar bears menaced by wolves. He enlists the help of various other animal friend to get the polar bears safely to their home and then to get him and a few Brunov bears back to their hollow tree to finish hibernating. The story has plenty of adventure without anything too fearful happening, a gentle story okay for bedtime.
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This review is from: Urso Brunov and the White Emperor (Hardcover)
Alexi Natchev provides vivid and powerful drawings to accompany the fantasy Urso Brunov and the White Emperor, recommended for young picturebook readers with good reading skills, or parental assistance. Urso Brunov hears a cry for help in the middle of winter, and sets out to help - for even though he's the size of a thumb, he's the Little Father of All Bears. His heroic attitude will carry him through a dangerous mission to return the two lost polar bear cubs to the Land of Rainbow Lights in this vivid story.
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