{"id":25198,"date":"2015-01-27T17:49:55","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T21:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25198"},"modified":"2015-01-27T17:49:55","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T21:49:55","slug":"review-of-100-bears-by-magali-bardos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25198","title":{"rendered":"Review of 100 Bears, by Magali Bardos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"100_bears_large\"<\/a>100 Bears<\/em><\/p>\n

by Magali Bardos<\/p>\n

Flying Eye Books, 2013. 100 pages.<\/p>\n

Counting books that go all the way up to 100 are something special. This one is a little bizarre and a little random, but I found it charming and would want it for my kids if they were still learning to count. It\u2019s too long for a storytime, but I can imagine kids poring over it at home the way my son spent hours with the Where\u2019s Waldo<\/em> books when he was a child.<\/p>\n

As you will guess by the 100 pages, there\u2019s basically a number on each page of this book. But it tells a general story as it counts, helped along by the pictures. The story is not a terribly coherent one, but it generally makes sense, and you see the same six bears and the same eight hunters throughout the book.<\/p>\n

The book begins:<\/p>\n

1 forest
\n2 mountains
\n3 bears on each mountain
\n4 paws in the air
\nEating honey, 5 times a day
\n6 bears in the forest
\n7 mushrooms
\n8 hunters
\n9 gunshots
\n10 butterflies flutter by \u2026 the bears seize the chance to sneak away<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The rest of the book follows their strange journey with the hunters sometimes being chased and sometimes chasing them and sometimes just, apparently, partying.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the objects counted aren\u2019t particularly relevant to the story, like \u201c13 cats meow\u2026 14 smoking chimneys.\u201d Most of the time there are objects to count, even when it gets to high numbers like \u201c62 windows on the way home\u2026 63 travellers.\u201d Sometimes the author just gives the number as a numeral with nothing to count, such as \u201cFlying over route 25\u201d (with a road in the shape of the numeral 25), \u201cTo go and celebrate the 31st\u201d (just a page-a-day calendar shown), or \u201coff they go to number 41\u201d (a house number). The 37 and 38 page fudges by saying \u201c37 or 38 bits of confetti\u2026 give or take.\u201d (This is actually rather brilliant or totally unfair, depending on your perspective.)<\/p>\n

There are a few ways you can tell the book was originally published in Europe, and not a lot of effort was made to Americanize it. On the picture of the 15th floor, there\u2019s a light on in what American\u2019s would call the 16th floor (since Americans call the ground floor the first floor). The bears get sick with \u201cfevers of 39 degrees C,\u201d and weights are given in kilos, and heights in centimeters.<\/p>\n

But while the story doesn\u2019t exactly hold together, it does circle back to \u201c100 trees\u2026 The forest.\u201d And I find it the delightful sort of book you can look at again and again, examining details and, of course, counting.<\/p>\n

flyingeyebooks.com<\/a> <\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Picture_Books\/100_bears.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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