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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
The First Bear by Tatu and illustrated by Saira is a children's picture book with three stories in a single volume. The first story is the titular tale, which provides an account of a young bear that does not like winter and decides to sleep through its entirety. After three winters of trial and error, she ultimately achieves success and is the first bear to hibernate. The First Bumble Bee is next, in which an outspoken bee questions the reason behind working so hard to make honey just to give most of it to the bears. The Queen Bee is unreceptive and a story of how a special bee became known as a 'bumble bee' came about. Finally, The First Polar Bear is about a clever young bear that was determined to live in an eternal winter if only he could figure out how, and where.
The First Bear is a cute little series of stories that received a warm reception from the youngest readers in our home. Tatu has come up with an imaginative concept that accomplishes three important things. The first is that it entertains. I was concerned about the volume of text as the written portions are pretty extensive, but the hook was good enough to keep children engaged. The second is that it promotes exploratory creativity. The stories of ‘firsts' are naturally fictional, but encouraging children to identify possible reasons is a positive. This leads to the third, which is prompting discussion about the facts. The artwork by Saira is colorful and full-spread with a lovely palette of softened primary and jeweled tones. Recommended.
