Elementary

My Favorite Bear
written and illustrated by Andrea Gabriel

A mother bear lovingly preens her sleepy, content cub as she lulls him off to sleep with stories of the other bears around the world.  Obvious in the adoring gaze lavished upon her cub, mother bear sends her cub off to sleep with the reassuring reminder that he is her favorite bear of all.  All eight bear species are beautifully depicted in larger than life,  two page spreads with interesting facts added at the end of the story for any eager bear enthusiast. 

Though My Favorite Bear is Andrea Gabriel's first attempt at both writing and illustrating, the prose is eclipsed by her brilliant artistic talent.  Gabriel's flair for creating such softly, realistic pictures is so finely honed,  you visually cuddle into the den's sweet hay and pine interior as the crisp air wafts by from the bright, wintry scene playing just beyond the den's opening.  In fact the pictures are so breathtakingly soft you cannot help but to reach out and touch the bear's fur.

When it's time to calm the little ones,  My Favorite Bear is one of our favorite books to send them to that magical childhood dreamworld where children feel especially loved and contentment reigns supreme.

-Kim Simonovitch