Ένα καλοκαιράκι για αρκούδες

Little Bear and Papa Bear #2

by Benjamin Chaud, Γιώργος Κουραβέλος (Translator)

Εκείνη τη νύχτα, το ‘στρωσε για τα καλά.
Ο Μπαμπάς Αρκούδος και ο Μικρός Αρκούδος
αφήνουν τη στέγη της Όπερας,
όπου είχαν αποφασίσει να ξεχειμωνιάσουν.
Μετά από μια μικρή περιπλάνηση,
βρίσκουν μια άνετη φωλιά
καταμεσής μιας φυλής από λούτρινα αρκουδάκια
που επίσης ξεχειμώνιαζαν εκεί.
Αλλά το πρωί, ο Μικρός Αρκούδος θα έχει
για άλλη μια φορά εξαφανιστεί.

Μετά το Ένα νανούρισμα για αρκούδες,
οι περιπέτειες και το κηνυγητό συνεχίζονται
μέσα σε ένα πολυκατάστημα, έναν σταθμό τρένων,
ένα υπερωκεάνιο και ένα εξωτικό νησί!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Adventure, Humor, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Benjamin Chaud was born in Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes and he studied drawing and applied arts at the Arts Appliqués in Paris and the Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg. He’s worked with numerous publishers including Albin Michel and Actes Sud, and his award-winning books have been translated into over twenty languages.

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Bear is mistaken for a teddy bear when he and Papa Bear hibernate in a department store. Soon Papa Bear wakes up and finds his little bear missing. Where oh where could Little Bear be?

This book with its colorful illustrations reminded me of the Where's Waldo books. We travel from the city to a tropical island hunting for Little Bear. The busy illustrations will keep children occupied as they search for the little bear.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up just where the previous title, The Bear's Song , left off, as Papa Bear and Little Bear attempt to snooze on the roof of the city opera house, this entertaining tale follows the ursine duo on a madcap adventure to a tropical island. After Little Bear is mistaken for a stuffed animal, and taken by a young human boy, Papa Bear must once again search for his wayward son, traversing urban environments, cruise ships, and underwater ecosystems in his quest. Eventually the two are reunited, deciding to spend their winter on the beach...

Originally published in France as Coquillages et petit ours, this over-sized picture-book boasts the same combination of entertaining story and intensely detailed and beautiful illustrations as its predecessor. Young children will enjoy following along as Papa Bear attempts (once again!) to track down his son, and will have fun searching each two-page spread for Little Bear, just as his father does. I have seen these Papa/Little Bear books compared to both Richard Scarry, as it concerns the detailed artwork, and the "Where's Waldo?" titles, with their search-and-find format, and I think the comparison is apt. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed the first book about Papa Bear and Little Bear, and to anyone who likes hunt-and-find stories.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - what a fun book! Join dad for a wild search for his missing bear cub through page after page of Where's Waldo?-like artwork.





This should keep the little ones (and not so little ones) entertained for a while.

[Yolanda Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter and I love all of Chaud’s bear books. We greatly enjoy all the busy illustrations!

[Nouru-éddine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The end is too predictable.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this book! And "we" is 9-year-old Maxwell, 7-year-old Mimi, 2-year-old Nathan, and 35-year-old me, so clearly this book has a wide appeal. It reminds me of In the Town All Year 'Round. There is so much to look at. Each page is bursting with interesting detail. We spent so much time just looking at each page and finding fascinating and peculiar things tucked away within the depths of the beautiful illustrations. We highly recommend this book and we all give it five enthusiastic stars!

[Katrina Dombrowsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, peculiar "wild bear chase" with extra large pages packed with highly detailed illustrations reminiscent of "Where's Waldo?" Best shared in a one-on-one experience, as little ones will want to spend a long time poring over each page to find Papa Bear and Little Bear amidst the chaos.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good i-spy book to get kids involved in the story by looking at the pictures. It is much like a Where's Waldo book in that respect. Large pages and small pictures make this better suited for a lap read than a read aloud.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*
5* art
3* story

Fantastic illustrations! So much to look at. I can see this book being fun for kids of all ages. The text was a little too old for Squirt at 2 1/2, so I told him the story in my own way and he loved looking for the little bear, loved that the Papa Bear kept missing him.

[Bhargavi Balachandran · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book! Great fun illustrations and an adorable story!

[Ornela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ένα βιβλίο με καταπληκτική εικονογράφηση!! Να συζητάς με τις ώρες με το παιδί και σε καθε ανάγνωση να ανακαλύπτεις κατι καινούργιο ...
Εξαιρετική έκδοση!!

[Sara :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly there was no plot and also a lack of diversity *for my taste*

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with Sara in the library, very advanced obvs!! There was a lack of character development and seemed to exist in a lawless society. As others have noted, a predictable end.

[Margaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok. I know you guys are getting sick of my five star reviews. But really! This is amazing!

Little bear wanders away again and papa bear is left with no choice but to look for him from the streets of Paris all the way to an ocean liner and a tropical beach. Lush backgrounds accompany this Where's Waldo?-esque adventure in which the reader, too, searches for little bear. Just great.

[Donalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Little Bear is mistaken for a toy bear and carried off by a child, Papa Bear embarks on an adventure across the globe to find his son. Kids (and their adults) will love hunting for Little Bear in the detailed, playful illustrations. I laughed out loud when Papa Bear joined an island Conga line!

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit Richard Scarry, a little bit Where's Waldo. A Papa Bear and his cub get into mischief and adventures. A touch of surrealism. Equally fun for the grown-up as the child. (Some winks and elbow nudges in there if you know what I mean.)

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best narrative, but tons of vocabulary words, and the kids love exploring the cute and silly details in the illustrations.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So whimsical and so many things to look at in the beautiful illustrations!

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what those creepy human drawings are meant to look like besides creepy and weird. Are children interested in this sort of drawing style? I'm not.

Pro:

You search for little bear on every page and there is some action as papa bear searches for his kid. There is also a bit to explore in the drawings and the setting changes fast.

Con:

The book seems to be loved by some but for me it's a miss. Firstly the drawing style makes everyone look like a monster. All the humans are creepy and ugly. None feel remotely real. The writing is also on the nose and there is nothing creative about it. You could remove the text and the book would not be any worse for it. Also, in the story papa bear just walks amongst humans so there is no conflict there. Boring. Imagine how cool it could be if the bear scared humans and needed to hide or sneak. It feels like the cub is never in any danger at all as all humans accept animals as part of their group. As it is now there is not much to the story or the setting. And it's ugly.

[Manfred Moonlight Ackermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'aime beaucoup l'univers de Benjamin Chaud, j'en ai certainement déjà parlé.

En tous cas, ce livre nous a été offert, et c'est cela qui nous a amené vers cet auteur. Comme quoi, c'est toujours important les cadeaux quand ils sont bien faits 😊

J'ai mis un certain temps avant d'y plonger avec ma fille, mais une fois fait, c'est un vrai régal de pouvoir lire et admirer ces images chargées. On cherche les personnages et on y voit 1000 autres détails.

Que du bonheur, une belle histoire, rigolote, un joli voyage à travers plein de pages différentes, plein d'univers.

Le dessinateur ne s'est pas ennuyé, et nous non plus !

[Evianrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a tall book! Picked up a copy of this at the local library for my 9 month old son. The story was cute, about a Papa Bear losing track of his little Cub and trying to find him again. The pages are drawn out like a Where's Waldo scene with a lot of stuff going on. Little Cub is hidden somewhere on each page. Right now my son is too little for that so he just looked at the pages briefly. We'll look for this again when he's a bit older and we'll scan the pages together for Little Cub then.

[Marta Pereira · Rating 5 out of 5]

O nome deste ilustrador é para fixar.
O nível de pormenor da ilustração é tal, que, a cada página, temos de parar de ler, preterir mesmo o texto escrito, para analisar o texto visual.
Benjamin Chaud - excelente!


Plano Nacional de Leitura
Livro recomendado para Educação Pré-Escolar, destinado a leitura em voz alta.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Papa and Baby Bear settle in for their winter nap. Baby Bear is mistaken for a toy and carried off by a young boy. Papa wakes and searches for his baby. The ensuing adventure takes them on a ship to an island and to finding each other again.
Readers will enjoy searching the illustrations to find Papa and Baby Bear on each page.

[Terry]

This is one book too many for the series. First, the adventure is night as tightly woven as the other books in the series. Finding Little Bear in the illustrations is part of the adventures, but this time, it was just not fun. See more thoughts on this book in the full review.

[Ashley]

Cute follow-up to Bear's Song, Little Bear becomes lost from his Papa Bear while trying to find a spot to hibernate. Papa Bear is hot on the trail of this look and find picture book by Benjamin Chaud. Will Papa Bear find his little cub again? (Well of course, it's a children's book!) My son and I enjoyed looking at all of the details on the pages.

[Jessica Meetze · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my 4 year old son’s top ten books. Every time we go to the library he has to come home with it! It’s like Where’s Waldo, but with the two bears. The illustrations are so captivating. I can’t imagine how long it took him to make all of these wonderful spreads! So detailed and creative!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because they go on an adventure and they go onto an island and they dress up with flowers and then they couldn't find Little Bear and Little Bear couldn't find Papa Bear. The next book of the series is The Bear's Surprise.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great detailed and inventive illustrations (my favorite was the swaying people under the swaying palms at the end) by a writer and artist from a very interesting part of France. I enjoyed finding the little cub on each page.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures in this series are delightful! Little Bear wants to find a good place to hibernate. The bears wind up on a ship, in the ocean, and finally on an island. I love the story and the pictures!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My eldest child (a grown-up now!) would have adored this book when he was little. So many cut-away illustrations, so many things happening in different rooms and places, so much to see and talk about!