The Bear Who Couldn't Sleep

PreS—Little Bear wanders out of his family's warm den and sets off through the snowy trees one night when he cannot sleep. He walks and walks "until he arrive[s] at a very big city"—New York. Bear finds himself surrounded by entertainment. Parades march by with colorful balloons, friends are made at the Central Park Zoo, a tall green lady stands guard in a harbor, and even the opera beckons to Bear. While gazing at a Jackson Pollock painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bear decides that he could stay in the city all winter…if he weren't getting so, so sleepy. Hushed mixed-media artwork comprised of pencils, pastels, and a touch of watercolor, rendered in muted shades of blues and grays, is quietly stunning, particularly a spread of Bear curled up at the bottom of a tree dappled in snow, illuminated by the hazy yellow beam of a park ranger's flashlight. Bear eventually stumbles home, walking, walking, walking back to his family "and the quiet sounds of winter."