Children's Classic: The Biggest Bear

There are some stories from my childhood that I remember vividly. That I can conjure up in my minds eye with just a title. Caldecott winner, The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward is one of the most vivid for me. Ward's story of a young boy named Johnny Orchard who goes out to collect a bear skin for his family's barn and comes back with more than he bargained for is imprinted in my mind.

Johnny lives in a farming community where his family raises apples. Every other farmer has shot and skinned a bear and Johnny feels the shame of not having a bearskin for the family. So one afternoon he sets off with his shotgun to shoot himself a bear. But the only bear he finds is just a cub. And he's hungry. So Johnny feeds him some of his maple sugar. And then takes the bear home. While his parents aren't happy with a bear for a pet, Johnny promises to feed him. The bear can certainly eat. He is quickly eating the family out of house and home. And growing...rapidly. He quickly becomes one of the biggest bears around.

When the bear starts eating the neighbor's food, the Orchards know that they need to do something with him. Johnny takes the bear out into the woods and leaves him several times but the bear always finds his way home. Finally the boy is told that he will have to take the bear into the woods and shoot it. But as Johnny is loading his gun the bear takes off, with Johnny holding on to the leash. He is dragged along with the bear into a humane bear trap where they are found by men collecting bears for the zoo. So the bear goes to the zoo and Johnny goes to visit him. And bring him maple sugar.

This simple and sweet story touched me greatly as a child. I loved the relationship between Johnny and the bear. I loved the way Ward personified the bear. I loved the maple sugar. But mostly I was touched by a story of a boy who went out to shoot a bear and found a friend instead. Ward's pages are sparse and clean with the illustrations done is soft black and white. Ward created the images using woodblock and they stand off the page like nothing I've ever seen.

The early scenes with the bear rival some of the cutest illustrations ever drawn. I would compared Ward's illustrations to Robert McCloskey but these seem a bit softer and even more detailed. The are also not cartoony in any way. The humans look like humans I've known and the bear looks very much like any bear you would find in the woods. The bear is never anthropomorphized but he is imbued with tons of personality. There is not a ton of text in the book (although a lot of pages) but the story is complete, with a bit of humor, a bit of sadness, and a lot of sweetness. This was one of my favorite books from childhood. And even now, it stands the test of time for me.

Huge Harold

I hadn't reviewed any Bill Peet books for the blog and the absence was starting to get to me. Bill Peet is best known as a story man for the Disney company but during that time he also managed to write a ton of books for children. He worked on films like 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, and Alice in Wonderland. His children's stories are He has got to be one of my favorite authors and illustrators. I compare him with Gene Zion and Don Freeman, masters of stories with warm wonderful illustrations and likable characters.

Huge Harold is about a rabbit named Harold who grows up way too much. He becomes several times larger than any other rabbit. His parents are forced to send him away with the statement that he won't be safe with them. So Harold sets off but he quickly discovers that he's not safe in the woods after he is chased by foxes in weasels. He tries to stay in a garden but the farmer discovers him and starts chasing him. Harold eventually finds himself in an old abandoned house but even that won't work after he is discovered. He is chased by hunters all through the fall and eventually in the winter, decides to take shelter in a barn. The farmer who finds him does not chase him off. Instead he feeds Harold good food and takes care of him. Harold is suspicious that he is being fattened up for rabbit stew but the farmer has a different plan. He teaches Harold to pull a cart and wins horse races with him. From then on Harold is adored as the rabbit as big as a horse.

The story is wonderfully warm and I loved the character of Harold. He is a sweet rabbit that just can't seem to fit in. He is often sad and constantly tired and hungry but he is just so cute that I could look past even his flashes of pessimism. The text is rhyming with a simple couplet rhyme scheme. "So he spotted a hide-out and with a big hop, He came plopping down in a leafy treetop. This fooled the hunters and also their dogs, Who sniffed round the tree trunk and peeked into logs." The writing is silly in places and the rhyme actually does a lot to keep us from getting depressed. Harold is often despairing and regularly makes remarks about not being able to go on. Originally I was surprised about this but the sadness just makes the big rabbit an underdog and we root for him all the harder.

The illustration are classic Bill Peet. Using colored pencil and tons of shading Peet is able to created characters that spring to live. I love the goofy grin on the face of Harold as he is happily munching away on the lettuce in one farmer's garden (not the cover image though). It certainly makes up for the number of scared or sad poses that Harold has to take. One image, of Harold sitting by a pond, is enough to break your heart. There is so much emotion in every page of this book, most of it on the part of the giant rabbit. We see his excitement, his sadness, his exhaustion, and his pride. This illustrations, like most of Peet's work, is just filled to the brim with heart. This is one of my favorite Bill Peet's and truly one of my favorite books.