Review Detail

BEAR AND BIRD: THE PICNIC AND OTHER STORIES is a collection of four stories in a chapter book-style format. Bear and Bird are best friends, and they love to spend time together. In the first story, Bird accidentally falls into a flower and begins to cry, so when Bear spots a crying flower, he tries to make it feel better by telling it about his silly friend Bird - however, the flower does not like that very much. Eventually, Bird gets out of the flower and lets Bear know he was being silly too. In the second story, Bear has forgotten to pack for their picnic, but he doesn't want to let Bird down, so he lies when she asks if he has brought the things they need. When they arrive at their picnic spot, Bear thinks on the fly to keep up the lie - and when Bird figures it out, she plays along so as not to let him feel bad either. Two additional stories round out this chapter book.

What I loved: This is an overall cute story about friendship and its ups and downs. The stories are gentle and overall pleasant with only some minor hurt feelings along the way, such as when Bird gets jealous of Bear's painting and when she gets upset that she thinks he is blowing her off for a new friend (though it is just a blanket). Each story resolves well by the end, leaving them still as the very best friends.

There are illustrations on each page with color that bring the stories to life. These were really lovely and great for advancing picture book lovers to bridge into an early chapter book like this. The font was also large and clear to aid in independent reading and/or word recognition. The format is great for budding chapter book readers.

What left me wanting more: I struggled with some of the content in that Bear and Bird are frequently lying to each other in the guise of friendship. A bit more honesty would perhaps do their friendship a better service, even if they are kind and thoughtful when being honest. For instance, there was not much reason for Bear to lie about packing all the picnic stuff or forgetting to use the restroom before they set off. The messaging does not seem great for young readers, especially in cases where the understanding of mistakes would have been more poignant than the continued lies.

Final verdict: Overall, BEAR AND BIRD: THE PICNIC AND OTHER STORIES features lovely illustrations and large font that will aid early chapter book readers with stories about friendship. Additional discussions and processing with a caregiver could be helpful to address some of the topics and dishonesty in the stories.