About this book

In this soothing love story between mother and child, Mama Bear offers various vessels to contain their love while they are apart--but none seem right. It's not until Little Bear suggests that they make each other a Kiss Box--filled with a hundred kisses--that they are able to stay connected--no matter where they are.

Whether it be an errand to the grocery store, a business trip, or the first day of school, this is a tender reminder that we are always together where it matters most: in our hearts.

Reviews

This Little Bear isn\u2019t the same one made famous by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak, nor is he Martin Waddell\u2019s Little Bear, but he is certainly of the same ilk as those beloved characters. Similar in tone and theme to Minarik\u2019s classic series, this is for slightly younger readers, and it is a bit simpler with a briefer text. The focus here is on Little Bear and Mama Bear and their upcoming separation (Mama Bear must go out for the afternoon). Softly colored pencil-and-watercolor illustrations portray bucolic, quotidian scenes: Mama Bear pushing Little Bear on a swing, the two fishing together, a picnic in a field. Throughout, Mama Bear reassures Little Bear: \u201c\u2018I will think about you all the time,\u2019 said his mama, \u2018no matter where I am or what I do.\u2019\u201d Together they work out a solution for his separation anxiety: something to carry kisses in. The \u201cStoryteller\u2019s Note\u201d at the end makes explicit what many parental readers will already have surmised—that the kiss box is as helpful for mamas as it is for the cubs they miss.

— Diane Foote, Booklist