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Ursa's Light
One night Ursa had an idea. An amazing idea. A wild idea. She was going to fly! It was such a crazy idea that no one believed she could do it. She was a bear, for goodness sake, and bears don't fly! Or do they...?
Ursa's Light will spark your imagination and make your spirit soar!
Ursa's Light will spark your imagination and make your spirit soar!
36 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2016
89 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
May 4, 2021
A young bear dreams of taking flight in this tale of never-giving-up on your ambitions.
I liked the author's artwork, particularly the unusual color palette, but the story seemed like something I've read before . . . several times.
I liked the author's artwork, particularly the unusual color palette, but the story seemed like something I've read before . . . several times.
July 15, 2016
"There were ALL the bears. And then, there was Ursa."
Ursa is very imaginative and believes that anything can happen. So when the idea that she can fly comes to her, she is determined to make it happen. Her parents are worried, her friends are skeptical but her little brother believes. Ursa works hard to make her dream a reality. She watches pigeons, observes dandelion seeds and studies bats in an effort to design something that will help her fly. But it's her little brother that helps her achieve her dream.
A sweet story with a good message for students.
Ursa is very imaginative and believes that anything can happen. So when the idea that she can fly comes to her, she is determined to make it happen. Her parents are worried, her friends are skeptical but her little brother believes. Ursa works hard to make her dream a reality. She watches pigeons, observes dandelion seeds and studies bats in an effort to design something that will help her fly. But it's her little brother that helps her achieve her dream.
A sweet story with a good message for students.
July 18, 2016
Sweet illustrations, wonderful message, and a fantastic sibling relationship that I adored, but....why is it called Ursa's Light? I understand all of the astronomy allusions, but I still don't think it fits the story at all.
June 6, 2016
I love intrepid little Ursa, and that she never gives up on her dreams. The illustrations are quite delightful.
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July 22, 2016This one would be great paired with "The Most Magnificent Thing" by Ashley Spires or "Amazing Grace" by Mary Hoffman.
November 18, 2016
“Ursa’s Light” details the trials of a bear named Ursa who is a bit different from her peers. Ursa is struck with the urge to fly, and she is doing everything she can to do so. Even through the doubts of those around her, Ursa finds a way to reach her goal. In the end, Ursa sees that her friends and family really do support her. This story teaches students how to follow through with dreams or goals.
Activity:
Have students think of a goal that they have. It can be a future goal like what they’d like to be when they are older, or a short term goal like the grade they are trying to earn for the quarter. With a projection screen, trace silhouettes of students’ heads and have students cut them out. Their dream, or goal, can be written inside the head, and beneath it, all of the steps they will take to attain that goal. Students may share with large or small group.
Marcero, D. (2016). Ursa's light. White Plains, NY: Peter Pauper Press.
Activity:
Have students think of a goal that they have. It can be a future goal like what they’d like to be when they are older, or a short term goal like the grade they are trying to earn for the quarter. With a projection screen, trace silhouettes of students’ heads and have students cut them out. Their dream, or goal, can be written inside the head, and beneath it, all of the steps they will take to attain that goal. Students may share with large or small group.
Marcero, D. (2016). Ursa's light. White Plains, NY: Peter Pauper Press.
September 23, 2018
In "Ursa's Light," Ursa is a young bear who is different from her fellow bears. She is quiet imaginative and when she expresses her desire to fly it appears to be an impossible feat. Her parents and friends were all skeptical, but she continued believing. One day, with the support of her brother, she achieves her dream of flying. This is a sweet story and it is fantastic for children ages 4-8. Even the color scheme had darker colors, the author did a great job of creating the illustrations. I enjoyed reading this book and I admired the fact that Ursa never lost faith and persevered until she achieved her dream.
February 2, 2020
This is a great book for children to see that they can do anything they put there mind to. Ursa has a huge imagination and she wants to fly. In order to reach this goal she was determined and practiced her heart out. This book shows children that anything is possible if they do some hard work. I feel this would be a good book to read to students if they were struggling with not being able to achieve something.
February 16, 2020
This is a story of aspirational thinking, where a bear wants to fly and takes great pains to make it happen. Ursa's younger sibling is her greatest supporter and believes in her when she repeatedly fails and when no one else offers her support. In the end, Ursa achieves her goal in a manner of speaking. It's a nice, encouraging story that would be good for reading aloud.
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March 18, 2025Brilliant.. I really enjoyed it I also wanted to reach out to you personally. Basically I'm an artist, and I love bringing stories to life visually. I was curious If you're interested in working together maybe for Cover Art, Character Designs, or anything else creative as a commoission artist I’d love to assist. No pressure at all, Just wanted to know if that's something you'd consider?
May 30, 2021
Ursa wants to fly. She realizes her dream in an unlikely way...or does she? I'm not sure I get the connection between her dream (flying) and a satisfying realization of her dream in what actually happens [[[SPOILER ALERT--she gets a part of a shooting star in a play. ]]]
January 29, 2023
Disjointed, fairly forgettable. Only some adults are going to get the astronomical Ursa reference, and it feels like a lost opportunity. There are a lot of better books out there about following your dreams for children.
September 24, 2025
Ursa the bear dreams of flying.
"There were all the bears, and, then, there was Ursa."
This picture book reflects the modern edict to follow one's dreams no matter who unrealistic they may be.
"There were all the bears, and, then, there was Ursa."
This picture book reflects the modern edict to follow one's dreams no matter who unrealistic they may be.
October 11, 2017
How cute is this? A familiar story about following your own path and trying your hardest, with cute and creative characters.
November 24, 2017
Very cute. I will definitely use this in the future for storytime, probably with a bear theme. The individual speech bubbles may be a little distracting.
May 29, 2018
This book wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was great nonetheless. Perfect for your little lover of stars and flight.
September 25, 2019
Note: I received an F&G from the publisher at an ALA conference.
March 5, 2022
Following your dreams, even if not the conventional way. Liked the illustrations as well.
March 9, 2023
A cute book about the power of believing in yourself!
May 28, 2021
To start off, I needed to say how adorable and vibrant all the illustrations were throughout this book. This book was so sweet and adorable book that makes you want to follow your own dreams!
December 29, 2017
Nice illustrations in a tale about the power of persistence and prototyping
March 3, 2017
Great for those students who are having a hard time "fitting in." This book shows them that they can have great ideas and work towards them. Good illustrations. Grades K-3
August 22, 2016
Deborah Marcero writes AND illustrates this gem, which is a story about a bear who wants to fly. It seems simple, until I found myself lingering on each page for several moments, marveling at their layers and conjuring memories of classroom projects and learnings from all my school years. Even though some of the concepts shown are quite advanced (Geometry! Astronomy! Latin!), a child does not have to be a genius to enjoy the story.
Sentences and paragraphs take the reader through the story, and these could be read straight through to tell a satisfying, if facile, tale. Additional words and phrases are found throughout the illustrations: in speech bubbles, on Ursa’s notepad sketches and diagrams, on her brother’s t-shirts, and on the family portraits. I read this book to myself, and wondered how I would read it aloud and incorporate all these parts of the story. I suppose, depending on the audience, the narrator could read every word while pointing, or for children old enough to read some words, have them participate in reading out loud. For the diagrams, I picture a grown-up and a child bent over the book, heads together, talking through Ursa’s drawings, or a librarian in front of storytime explaining the sketch and possibly even acting out each idea for flight. I feel that this is a very active book – everyone will be trying to fly by the end!
Beyond the words, the illustrations add yet more layers to the story. One aspect I particularly noticed was the bears’ mouths, which are very expressive. Through mouth shapes, you see Ursa go from frustrated to hopeful to happy when she makes the fantastic paper airplane, and you see how her classmates react to her when they see her imaginative painting.
All together, the words and the illustrations form an inspirational and deeply felt tale, made more enjoyable by the characters’ utter cuteness and the detailed yet grand scope of the drawings and settings.
Random thoughts: I want a “Live Delibearately” shirt, and I love that a family of bears has a cat named Zeus.
*I am the author of a children’s picture book (not yet published) called Dangerous Kitty . I read some books specifically for inspiration, education, and motivation, and I review them with my own writing in mind. The shelf tag “reviewed-as-author” indicates that this is one of those books.
Sentences and paragraphs take the reader through the story, and these could be read straight through to tell a satisfying, if facile, tale. Additional words and phrases are found throughout the illustrations: in speech bubbles, on Ursa’s notepad sketches and diagrams, on her brother’s t-shirts, and on the family portraits. I read this book to myself, and wondered how I would read it aloud and incorporate all these parts of the story. I suppose, depending on the audience, the narrator could read every word while pointing, or for children old enough to read some words, have them participate in reading out loud. For the diagrams, I picture a grown-up and a child bent over the book, heads together, talking through Ursa’s drawings, or a librarian in front of storytime explaining the sketch and possibly even acting out each idea for flight. I feel that this is a very active book – everyone will be trying to fly by the end!
Beyond the words, the illustrations add yet more layers to the story. One aspect I particularly noticed was the bears’ mouths, which are very expressive. Through mouth shapes, you see Ursa go from frustrated to hopeful to happy when she makes the fantastic paper airplane, and you see how her classmates react to her when they see her imaginative painting.
All together, the words and the illustrations form an inspirational and deeply felt tale, made more enjoyable by the characters’ utter cuteness and the detailed yet grand scope of the drawings and settings.
Random thoughts: I want a “Live Delibearately” shirt, and I love that a family of bears has a cat named Zeus.
*I am the author of a children’s picture book (not yet published) called Dangerous Kitty . I read some books specifically for inspiration, education, and motivation, and I review them with my own writing in mind. The shelf tag “reviewed-as-author” indicates that this is one of those books.
September 25, 2016
I don't ordinarily review children's books (partially because I read so many of them with my little one, and it feels like cheating to add them to my Goodreads challenge list) but I'm making an exception for Ursa.
My daughter is four and she absolutely loves Ursa. We picked this one up on a whim because I was leafing through it and saw the word skeptical (and my little one didn't know what that word meant, but liked to use it anyway) and I thought it would be a good excuse to teach her with an illustrated example, to boot.
But the first time we read this book (we've read it probably a dozen times by now, maybe even more) I was really impressed with it. There are a lot of things about this book that make it different from a lot of other books, and we just love the character of Ursa. So nice to see a smart, problem-solving, innovative little bear front and center. I also appreciated that Ursa lives in an apartment (because she lives in NYC, but sometimes families live in an apartment, not a house, and that's not widely represented in a lot of the books we've seen. A minor thing, but I liked it). We loved watching her try and fail and just keep trying. The illustrations are really lovely, as well.
February 23, 2016
Ursa isn't like other bears. She has dreams of flying. Even though her parents worry, her friends mock, and her brother just watches, Ursa ignores the nay-sayers and gets to work making her dream come true. She works hard, but falls short of her goal time and again. She is ready to give up when she finds a way to make her dreams a reality.
This is a picture book about passion, dreaming, hard work, and following your heart. The illustrations are beautiful and work wonderfully with the text (probably because the author is also the illustrator). This is a beautiful, simple story about a determined young bear pushing aside her doubt and the negativity of others to let herself shine. This is perfect if you are looking for an uplifting book about following your dreams, working hard to reach your goals, or accepting yourself the way you are.
Source: I received an unbound galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
My blog: Batch of Books
This is a picture book about passion, dreaming, hard work, and following your heart. The illustrations are beautiful and work wonderfully with the text (probably because the author is also the illustrator). This is a beautiful, simple story about a determined young bear pushing aside her doubt and the negativity of others to let herself shine. This is perfect if you are looking for an uplifting book about following your dreams, working hard to reach your goals, or accepting yourself the way you are.
Source: I received an unbound galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
My blog: Batch of Books
August 1, 2016
Ursa is different from the other bears in her class. She dreams bigger and isn't satisfied with normal. She gets an idea in her head that she can fly, and though everyone discourages her she repeatedly attempts to soar. After three failed attempts she waivers and nearly accepts that she, a bear, cannot fly. Just then she spots an advertisement for a local theater. They need someone to be a comet and fly! Ursa auditions and at the performance she spins and twirls as "the most dynamic shooting star anyone had ever seen."
This book was absolutely lovely! There were so many cute details- like Ursa's name and her little brother, Orion. He was particularly adorable. I love that Ursa was so enthusiastic about life and believing in herself. She knew she could fly and she went out and proved it. That takes courage and I'm sure she will continue to "fly" and do amazing things in life, spreading her light and positivity to those around her.
This book was absolutely lovely! There were so many cute details- like Ursa's name and her little brother, Orion. He was particularly adorable. I love that Ursa was so enthusiastic about life and believing in herself. She knew she could fly and she went out and proved it. That takes courage and I'm sure she will continue to "fly" and do amazing things in life, spreading her light and positivity to those around her.
February 9, 2017
I loved the art so much, I couldn't bear to give it any rating lower than a 5.
June 9, 2016
I really, really liked the striking illustrations and the colors, but I'm getting tired of reading picture books about THAT ONE KID WHO WASN'T LIKE ANYBODY ELSE AND WENT ON TO DO SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL
March 6, 2016
A bear dreams of flight. After many failed attempts, she realizes her dream in a most unlikely way.
March 7, 2016
This book is completely lovely. The story is sweet and fun, though not entirely original. But the beautiful art more than makes up for what the story lacks.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews