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Arctic Bears Chase
One night Steve Fiffer couldn't fall asleep. Instead of counting sheep, he tried to create a single sentence using all the letters of the alphabet--in order from A to Z. He didn't get much sleep that night, but he got his 26-word sentence, which he promptly turned over to artist Keiler Roberts. The result of their collaboration--Arctic Bears Chase--is a charming, beautifully illustrated book for children learning their ABCs, kids who love a literary challenge and offbeat drawings, and folks of all ages who like their word puzzles with a touch of humor.
32 pages, Paperback
First published March 23, 2012
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 27, 2012
I won a copy of Arctic Bears Chase on Goodreads. This being my first, quite unexpected, and unlooked for prize, I may be disposed to view Arctic Bears Chase a little less impartially than I have some of the other books that I’ve reviewed here.
Arctic Bears Chase is a book consisting of a single, alphabetically building sentence with corresponding illustrations. The concept intrigued me, and so I entered my name for the drawing.
Intriguing though I still find the concept, I feel as if it might have been executed with more finesse, while recognizing how difficult such a book, such a sentence is to craft, particularly while making it appropriate for the young target audience.
In 10 minutes or less, I dashed off a sentence using the same concept, but mine included words too lofty for a toddler audience, perhaps even more grammatical awkwardness, and would have been much harder to illustrate (I ended up with 11 adjectives and four nouns describing rain). I like the rhythm of the noun participle pairings that Arctic Bears Chase uses, but would otherwise have wanted more variation in structure.
What really rubs me about this book is how quickly the novelty of the nonsensical wears off and how quickly the illustrations cease building into a full story but instead dissolve into creative drawings that do not connect to one another except by the inclusion of the previous character. Arctic bears disappeared from the illustrations by the letter ‘I,’ and the illustrations ceased to build coherently after ‘F,’ when the frog is suddenly no longer in the tree.
I am 23. I am not the intended audience for this book nor have I been able yet to interact with a child who is the target age to watch his reaction. Perhaps a toddler would be more able to enjoy the rhythm and nonsense of the story.
Before signing off, I do want to warn that I know I can be a harsh judge of children’s literature.
Thanks, Mr. Fiffer and Miss Roberts for the book! I will try and get it read by younger children who cross my path and flip through it myself too when I need a laugh.
Arctic Bears Chase is a book consisting of a single, alphabetically building sentence with corresponding illustrations. The concept intrigued me, and so I entered my name for the drawing.
Intriguing though I still find the concept, I feel as if it might have been executed with more finesse, while recognizing how difficult such a book, such a sentence is to craft, particularly while making it appropriate for the young target audience.
In 10 minutes or less, I dashed off a sentence using the same concept, but mine included words too lofty for a toddler audience, perhaps even more grammatical awkwardness, and would have been much harder to illustrate (I ended up with 11 adjectives and four nouns describing rain). I like the rhythm of the noun participle pairings that Arctic Bears Chase uses, but would otherwise have wanted more variation in structure.
What really rubs me about this book is how quickly the novelty of the nonsensical wears off and how quickly the illustrations cease building into a full story but instead dissolve into creative drawings that do not connect to one another except by the inclusion of the previous character. Arctic bears disappeared from the illustrations by the letter ‘I,’ and the illustrations ceased to build coherently after ‘F,’ when the frog is suddenly no longer in the tree.
I am 23. I am not the intended audience for this book nor have I been able yet to interact with a child who is the target age to watch his reaction. Perhaps a toddler would be more able to enjoy the rhythm and nonsense of the story.
Before signing off, I do want to warn that I know I can be a harsh judge of children’s literature.
Thanks, Mr. Fiffer and Miss Roberts for the book! I will try and get it read by younger children who cross my path and flip through it myself too when I need a laugh.
July 14, 2012
I can easily imagine reading this to a small child, though depending on the personality and age of the child, it becomes harder to think of reading it more than a few times.
As an adult, I laughed out loud within the first few pages - but at the sheer, unexpected absurdity of the twist of events. However, as a child, young enough to still be learning the alphabet, I'm not sure I would realize how absurd the story was. The pictures are more understated than I would have liked, also leading me to believe that the humor of the book might miss the child entirely. I would have preferred bolder colors and images.
All that being said, this book does what it set out to do: it delivers the alphabet in an interesting and imaginative manner.
(Sidenote: this is definitely a book that if the child were to pick it back up in their teenage years, they would wonder how they missed certain details - like the nurses who oil policemen.)
As an adult, I laughed out loud within the first few pages - but at the sheer, unexpected absurdity of the twist of events. However, as a child, young enough to still be learning the alphabet, I'm not sure I would realize how absurd the story was. The pictures are more understated than I would have liked, also leading me to believe that the humor of the book might miss the child entirely. I would have preferred bolder colors and images.
All that being said, this book does what it set out to do: it delivers the alphabet in an interesting and imaginative manner.
(Sidenote: this is definitely a book that if the child were to pick it back up in their teenage years, they would wonder how they missed certain details - like the nurses who oil policemen.)
May 30, 2012
Adults and children will both laugh out loud and enjoy this one-sentence alphabet book. What I like especially is the playfulness--the game reader and child can play by making their own sentence. Older children too, could benefit from sneaky lessons about parts of speech with this kind of sentence-building. Illustrations are offbeat and hilarious. Great gift book that will provide hours of interactive fun. Full disclosure--I know and love both author and illustrator. But I have also read this book aloud in classes and workshops and seen children thoroughly engage, learn and laugh. And those children were complete strangers to me!
July 6, 2012
This is a delightful little book. I was so captivated by it that I called one of my grandchildren and read it to her. She giggled and my daughter, 27, loved it, as well. I couldn't give it 5 stars at first, because some of the sentence is a little awkward and not given to easy imagination. Then, I realized that the illustrator took up the slack in that area, which all great illustrators do.
If you are expecting a sentence that makes realistic sense, this is not it. However, mix in a little childhood imagination and you have Artic Bears Chase. Now, try to do the same backwards...
If you are expecting a sentence that makes realistic sense, this is not it. However, mix in a little childhood imagination and you have Artic Bears Chase. Now, try to do the same backwards...
July 26, 2012
Wonderful, folk-art style illustrations with a fun story. I have to agree with Gwendolyn, in that I can't imagine this being a book children want to read more than a few times. Those few times, however, will likely fill children's minds with fun and absurd images.
I won this book in a First Reads giveaway, and it will likely sit in my mother's elementary school library shelves, being enjoyed for years to come.
I won this book in a First Reads giveaway, and it will likely sit in my mother's elementary school library shelves, being enjoyed for years to come.
May 30, 2012
I'm the author, so I can't be objective. But I do think you'll have fun with it and will enjoy the wonderful illustrations of Keiler Roberts.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews