Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 12/15/2013 Nelson’s books have included stories about slaves, baseball players, and jazz artists; here, he tries something new—a bedtime story. Baby Bear is lost. He walks under a midnight-blue sky, approaching forest animals from the mountain lion to squirrels, a towering moose to a wise owl. From each he gets a bit of advice about the way home: sit still, climb higher, listen to your heart. Finally, it is a salmon (“promise not to eat me”) who leads Baby Bear across the river, just as the harvest moon that has followed his wanderings is changing places with a bright morning sun. Storywise, this isn’t much different from many picture books about baby animals’ night journeys and the forest dwellers who help them, but Nelson’s art is better than most and takes up some of that slack. Oversize spreads of oil-on-canvas paintings feature eye-catching close-ups of the animals as well as views from spectacular perspectives. Always, the little bear is at the center of the art, endearingly drawn. His predicament will touch listeners, who will be as happy as he is when home is finally in view. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Nelson’s many fans are always eager to see what he’s up to, and this change of pace will win him some new ones. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 01/01/2014 PreS-Gr 1—A glorious full moon illuminates a blue-black wilderness as a scared and lost Baby Bear seeks his way home. He deferentially asks various animals for help. Each creature offers a different suggestion on how to find his home. Some of the advice is practical as Mountain Lion tells him to "retrace your steps," some of it is silly as the squirrels suggest that he "hug a tree," and some is just clichéd as Moose says, "listen to [your] heart. It speaks as softly and sweetly as a gentle breeze. And it is never wrong." Salmon is the last one to help Baby Bear, swimming with the cub and then instructing him to climb up and see his home at last. Relieved, the little bear beholds a splendid sunrise over the river valley, the same view as depicted in the front endpapers of the book, but now bathed in light. Most young children equate "home" with "family," and the fact that no other bears appear is disconcerting. Nelson's luscious oils on canvas are as breathtaking as ever, and his superb, almost life-sized, depictions of these creatures in their natural environment hold a wonder of their own. Unfortunately, the saccharine narrative and less-than-satisfying resolution make Baby Bear an additional purchase at best.—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 02/01/2014 Baby Bear is lost and seeks help in finding his way home from a variety of animals. Each offers slightly different advice, from the Squirrels, who advise him to “hug a tree and think of home,” to the Ram who suggests climbing up high for a better view and singing a song to lift his spirits, to the Salmon who agrees to actually show him the way, providing Baby Bear promises not to eat him, and leads him back home. The gentle cadences of the animals’ voices and the large, dream-like illustrations in deep twilight tones make this suitable for bedtime reading or for an evening story hour. Unfortunately, some of the animals’ advice is sentimental and clichéd (the Moose offers, “When I am lost, I sit very still and try to listen to my heart. It speaks as softly and sweetly as a gentle breeze. And it is never wrong”), and Baby Bear’s slow progress, a result of the largely abstract advice he receives, gets a bit tedious. Nelson’s artwork, done in oil paint on canvas, is thoughtfully composed with unusual perspectives (extreme close-ups of some of the animals, viewpoints that are above or below Baby Bear), giving the pictures a fresh originality. Some illustrations are plasticky in their stiff glossiness, but others are lovely—the nearly glowing snowy owl perched in a dark tree seems almost ethereal. Nature-loving youngsters may nonetheless enjoy this journey, and it could easily be paired with Root’s Oliver Finds His Way (BCCB 2/02) for a duo of lost bear books. JH - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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