Snow Bear [Hardcover]

Piers Harper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004

On the first day of spring, Little Snow Bear can finally leave his den to explore the snowy world outside. Exploring is so much fun, but Snow Bear begins to worry when he realises he is lost. Luckily, his new friends are there to help him find the way home!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-In this bland story, a young polar bear leaves his cozy arctic den on the first day of spring to meet the world. His mother warns him to stay close, but exploring is so much fun that he soon becomes lost. A girl who is fishing feeds him and takes him home in her dogsled. Full-spread illustrations contain lots of white accentuated mostly with blues, greens, purples, and browns. Uncluttered backgrounds draw readers' eyes to the tactile animals created from fabrics that are soft to the touch. While the oversized spreads have some appeal, the little cub looks happy throughout the story, even when he is lost and hungry. This contradiction between text and illustrations may confuse young readers. Take a pass.
Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Piers Harper studied Ancient History and Classical Civilization, but as he has always loved drawing, he decided to be an illustrator, rather than an archaeologist. He has now been illustrating children's picture and puzzle books for 10 years including the enormously SNOW BEAR hardback (1 4050 2060 1). His soft watercolour style perfectly complements the soft-to-touch novelty on his larger-than-life picture books. Piers lives in Cumbria, where his hobbies are mountain climbing and eating chocolate!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 22 pages
• Publisher: Campbell Books; Board Book edition (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405048573
• ISBN-13: 978-1405048576
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,782,689 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 Lovely book for preschoolers!, December 5, 2005

By 

Jennifer "CjenO" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Snow Bear (A Soft-to-Touch Book) (Hardcover)

My 3 year-old nephew loved this book so much that I've bought copies from this series for each of my other nephews and nieces (I have 13 ages 5 and under!). These are beautiful books with sweet stories and wonderful pictures. The entire series is adorable! Definitely recommend.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful but lacking depth, December 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Snow Bear (A Soft-to-Touch Book) (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book with "fuzzy" highlights. The paintings and colors are lovely on their own and the flocking adds a very pretty depth. The flocking is very well done indeed. It is really too bad that the story, what little story there is, lacks any poetry. Children will love the visual and tactile experience but buy something else also for the words.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful "touch" book!, December 2, 2010

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snow Bear (Soft-To-Touch Books) (Paperback)

What does it take for a book to be successful with children? Piers Harper offers soft fuzzy animals (literally a flocked touch on various animal parts of various animals), friendly neighbors, an adorable little bear, a gentle, caring mother, and an obvious lesson about minding what your parents say. Thus we have "Snow Bear," what has long been a favorite of this PK3-8th librarian.

Snow Bear ventures out into the world only after his mother gives permission, ending their long winter inside their cave (and his birth). She admonishes him: Stay in my sight. As children are wont to do, he becomes intoxicated with play and strays away, first following one new sight after the other.

Even after he realizes he is lost, he finds a reindeer (I think it is one, well, the story says so), who takes him out of the forest. He meets a little girl who feeds him then takes him to his mother, overjoyed to be reunited with her young son.

So it ends happily.

However, one reviewer takes to task the disconnect between illustration and text. Words say Snow Bear is worried about being lost. In every illustration he is smiling and downright joyous. Disconnect. Troublesome. I had never thought of that.

Another thing which I then considered: He trusts everyone he meets and explicitly believes them that they have his interests at heart and will lead him home. We all know that is not so. Another disconnect?

Stop this foolishness. "Snow Bear" is a delightful "touch" book about a sweet, little bear who is loved by his gentle, caring mother. The tactile part is just lagniappe.

A note about white: White in art is rarely all white. The illustrations here demonstrate "whiteness" by including green, purple, blue, gray, and blue-green--all used to give shape, depth, and texture to the snow.

Sometimes a children's book is just a book to be enjoyed--