The Bears Go to School

September 15, 2013
Winters' Pete and Gabby are back, this time largely avoiding detection while they roam through an elementary school. The empty campground is again the spark for their adventure. As they explore, they come across a large red building and buses unloading kids. "Kids go here!" says Pete. "This place must be fun!" In the same odd semi-anthropomorphism that plagued their first title, the two bears act human--paws over their hearts for the waving flag, hiding to avoid getting caught in the music room, painting paw prints all over the art-room walls, climbing the rock wall in the gym--but at the same time, they scare the lunch ladies (but not the kids) who eventually spy them and require the ranger to come out and arrange to take them back to the park (after petting their heads) in the back of a police cruiser, no tranquilizers required. They also feel sorry for the caged animals in the science room, setting them all free. Kirkland's watercolors show Gabby with a mouse on her nose and another running down her back, while Pete lies on his back on the floor, a bunny on his belly and a parakeet on his nose. Very unbearlike. No doubt the bears are adorable, and those just starting school may appreciate a new perspective on the going-to-school theme, but, especially in areas where there are real bears roaming the countryside, the mixed message is troubling. (Picture book. 4-7)

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October 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 2-Bored cubs Pete and Gabby wander out of their campground and explore a nearby school. They play with the musical instruments and paint, climb the gym rock wall, set class pets free, and raid the lunchroom. The friends are discovered at last by the lunch ladies, who call the authorities to escort the well-meaning animals back to the campground. "'They just like to explore, ' said the ranger. 'Bears will be bears.'" The story is unsatisfying despite the sweet Garth Williams-style drawings. Pete and Gabby occupy a strange quasi-anthropomorphic space in which they are wild enough that the humans they encounter will scream and call 911, but civilized enough that they wave to the children and ride home unrestrained in the backseat of a police cruiser. Are they dangerous? Are they just naughty? The scenario lacks internal logic, and readers are left with a mixed message. These bears are pretty tame, and the story is too.-Heidi Estrin, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
Mischievous and curious bear cubs Gabby and Pete leave their campground and explore a school undetected, making messes and wreaking havoc (rocking out in the music room, setting class pets free, etc.). The simple story arc ends rather anticlimactically, and the cubs are sent back home with a "bears will be bears" from the park ranger. Friendly, soft-focus illustrations endear the fuzzy, harmless troublemakers.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)