Tumble!

PreS-Gr 3—This title gently reminds youngsters about the rewards of sharing. A young polar bear and his two friends are following some tracks in the snow when they discover a soft, red scarf. Tumble smells and touches it, then he wraps it around his neck and calls it his wubbie. His buddies want to play with it, too, but Tumble declares, "It's mine!" The others tell him he doesn't know how to use it. Of course, Tumble doesn't believe them until he finds himself tangled up in the wubbie and stuck in the snow. Ultimately the friends rescue him and all three sit happily under an evergreen tree with the scarf wrapped around them. The pencil, ink, and watercolor artwork is digitally enhanced and done in van Lieshout's expressive trademark style. The polar bears are outlined in black, and the snow is depicted in shades of gray. Tumble's nose and the wubbie pop in red, as does the green of the pine tree. Plenty of white space creates lovely contrasts. A perfect choice for a wintertime storyhour or one-on-one sharing.—Anne Beier, Clifton Public Library, NJ