Bear

by George Polley

The story of a boy and his very unusual dog. The night before his birthday, Andy dreams he meets a bear that wants to hug him, only for his aunt and uncle to give him a dog that looks exactly like a bear that not only seems to understand everything that people are saying around him, but wants to hug them too. While everyone looks at Bear and asks Andy whether he isn't really a bear rather than a dog, the family begins to notice that Bear seems to have some very special gifts of recognizing danger and sorting out problems, gifts that serve Andy well on their many adventures together as Andy learns about the many wonders of life, and a few of its dangers too. "George Polley's tales, from 'The Old Man & The Monkey', to 'Grandfather and the Raven', and now to 'Bear', are magical in their own right and should be read by everyone as fables of friendship, compassion and justice," Tim Roux, author of 'Missio' and 'The Blue Food Revolution'.

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 17, 2012

About the author

Originally from Seattle, my wife and I moved to Sapporo, Japan in early 2008, where I write full time.

I began writing in the mid 1960s, beginning with a novel (unpublished) and poetry. My first short story, "Jonah's Birth" was published in "The South Dakota Review". Since then I've published fiction & poetry in a number of publications, including "The Palestine Chronicle", "The View From Here" and "A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories" (Mohammad Quayum, editor) published by Marshall Cavendish Editions, Singapore, in 2011.

Three of my novels ("The Old Man and the Monkey", "Grandfather and the Raven" and "Bear", a novel about an unusual dog and his human friend Andy, are published by Taylor Street Publishing, San Francisco. "The City Has Many Faces", a novel set in Mexico City, has just been completed.

Reviews

[Brendan Gisby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed two earlier books by George Polley, Grandfather & The Raven and The Old Man & The Monkey, both of which are set in Japan and written in the style of Japanese fables, I was more than interested to find out how the author's work would fare in an American setting.

The dominant character in this latest work is, of course, a brown dog called Bear. The all-wise, all-knowing, all-seeing Bear also features in "Grandfather & The Raven", where his owner is an elderly Japanese man. But here his owner is a ten year-old boy from Seattle by the name of Andy.

Although Andy and Bear seem at first to inhabit a Norman Rockwell vision of America, populated by nice kids and nice parents in a nice neighbourhood, it soon becomes clear that their world is not all Mom and apple-pie. They have giant rodents to contend with, a crazy neighbour, a gun-toting delinquent and even a wicked Native American spirit. And, as in the earlier books, a simple message, one that is important to children and adults alike, is conveyed throughout these adventures. The message is that of tolerance.

So the good news is that Mr Polley's writing has transferred well from Japan to Seattle. The even better news is that Andy and Bear are set to return for more adventures. "Cool!" as young Andy would say.

[Alison]

kindle dog/animal stories