Bear Can Dance!

Bear Can Dance!
by Suzanne Bloom
40 pages; ages 3-7
Boyds Mills Press

theme: friendship, talents

I love Bear and Goose - they are "splendid friends indeed"... and this book includes their best buddy, Fox. And they're bound to have fun, if only Bear can figure out what it is he can do.

Opening:
I wish I could fly?
Why, Bear?
So I could swoop and glide and feel the wind in my fur.

Bear can't fly, but Fox is certain that he could - if only he had the right equipment. And if he does the right moves. And with the help of his friends.

It turns out that Bear can fly - just not the way Goose and Fox imagined!

What I like LOVE about this book: I love the way Suzanne Bloom can tell a story using a combination of dialog-only text and wondrous illustrations. I love the creative ways Fox and Goose try to get Bear to fly. I love that Bear finds a way to fly with feet on the ground. And I love the endpapers where Goose and Fox are dancing the (what else?) Foxtrot....

Beyond the Book:
If you were going to teach Bear how to fly, what would you do? What does it take to fly? Can you get that whooshy feeling doing other things? When you're swinging, or sledding down a hill, do you feel like you're flying?

What animals fly? Birds fly, but there are other animals that fly about, or glide. Think about mammals, fish, amphibians and reptiles, and insects. How do they flit/ fly/soar/glide through the air?

What is that funny suitcase-looking thing that Bear is playing music on? If you have one, listen to a recording. If not, see where you can find one: a museum? A thrift shop? Take a close look. How do they work? If you're not sure, read this.

Dance to some music. Can you swoop and glide like Bear? Does it almost feel like flying - but with your feet on the ground?  

Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy from the publisher.