What About Harry?

PreS-Gr 1—Best friends Sam and Harry are enjoying their day out, playing kings and making crafts. While Harry, the larger of the two bears, has enthusiastic ideas, his skills don't quite measure up to those of his friend Sam. So when the other forest creatures constantly sing Sam's praises, Harry is perturbed. With the skills he was once proud of now souring, he leaves, and Sam can only watch, perplexed. Once off by himself, Harry realizes that the experiences were only fun because he shared them with Sam. After reuniting, the story ends with the two rushing off to play again. Anderson presents a narrative that children will relate to. The lighthearted life lessons are fairly well-integrated into the dialogue-heavy text, and are always presented optimistically. Rounded, big-nosed characters and the happy forest shades from the digital illustrations are cheerful.