Bear Play

From School Library Journal PreSchool-K?"What can I do?" a polar bear asks itself. Life alone isn't much fun?a friend to frolic with is the answer. Ford has kept the same successful format of one picture and brief caption per page that she used in Little Elephant (Greenwillow, 1994), where she collaborated with her mother, Tana Hoban. Short phrases?"Look! A ball...Get ready. Here it comes"?punctuate each quiet, full-color photograph as the two pals gambol and sport, splashing up and down in the water until it's time for the visitor to leave. "We had fun," reads the wistful caption?but there's always tomorrow. Muted tones?creamy, yellow bears; a chocolate-colored ball; dark-green waters; and gray cement?dominate. Short sentences aimed at the very young maintain the enthusiasm of the creatures' play, but Ford's photos lack the clarity and vibrancy of Hoban's work. The lighting is dim, and children who have come to think of polar bears as pure white may not recognize the bears here as such. Nevertheless, the concept of friendship combined with the animals' soft playfulness make this a charming companion to Little Elephant.?Lisa Wu Stowe, Great Neck Library, NYCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From