Mama's Little Bears

MAMA'S LITTLE BEARS is a lovely book, and one our toddler (29 months) took to immediately. MAMA'S LITTLE BEARS is a great book for a toddler partly because it is about children stretching at boundaries. Three little bears are out fishing with their mama, and then run away to explore. This could be a little scary, at least for a toddler, except that Tafuri was smart enough to paint the Mama Bear into the background of each adventure. She is always back there, keeping an eye on them, and when something scares them enough to call for mama, she is right there. Another lovely aspect of MAMA'S LITTLE BEARS is the pictures. These are very nice pictures of a landscape somewhere in the Pacific northwest (Oregon?). The fish that the bear fish for look like salmon. We then see a variety of interesting plants and animals as the little bears explore -- blueberries, birds (partridges? they are on the ground), otters, mice, spiders, and more. When we see animals, we often see what appear to be family groupings, which is sweet. ("Look! A mama mouse and three baby mice!"). As an adult, I would have appreciated a guide, a page at the back listing the plants and animals, so we could talk about them. Tafuri added another detail to MAMA'S LITTLE BEARS that you can enjoy as you read this over and over, which is connections between the pictures. In each picture, you can spot some aspect of the next thing that the little bears will explore. That is something we enjoyed looking for as we read the book over and over. MAMA'S LITTLE BEARS is fun to look at and read. Our toddler likes this one a lot!