Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler
Categories
Children’s picture books

BEAR IN A BATHROBE

Maddie Frost

A delightful new picture book that encourages readers to step outside of their comfort zone with the help of a security blanket and some good pals, from powerhouse creator Maddie Frost.

It's wintertime and Bear is ready to stay indoors and cozy up in his bathrobe until spring. His bathrobe is the ultimate indoor experience because it keeps his ears toasty, has pockets for all of his snacking essentials, and allows for maximum relaxation all season long. His friends look like they're having so much fun skating outside, and he could join them if he wanted to, but he's too busy having quality indoor alone time in his bathrobe to even think about going out into the wild. Besides, what if he fell and hurt himself, or slipped through the ice, or skated too far away from home? Winter is clearly the time for hibernation, not outdoor adventures. But when Bear's friends share what makes them feel safe when they tackle new and sometimes scary experiences, Bear might just be ready to venture into the great outdoors and risk falling on the ice. Maddie Frost's new picture book invites readers to courageously tackle new - and slightly frighteningexperiences and reminds them that it's not about whether you fall or not, but how you get back up. Maddie Frost is a children's author-illustrator from Massachusetts. Her books focus on funny characters and are packed with heart. Most of Maddie's ideas come from emotional and personal places that are spun into a hilarious story. She uses her anxious and worried brain to make art and relate to readers of all ages. When Maddie is not making books, she's hanging out with her two pups, Mozzy and Remy.

Available products
Book Published 2024-10-01 by Viking

Comments

Caring friends help an ursine character get out of his comfort zone in this anxiety-oriented story with an encouraging takeaway. There's nothing homebody Bear enjoys more than his fluffy pink robe: "It has pockets for my essentials." And while the protagonist's animal friends love to ice-skate, Bear prefers the indoors, claiming that "going outside is for wild animals." Humorous vignettes present the lengths Bear goes to avoid joining the crew (27 loads of laundry) and highlight the skating-related concerns fueling Bear's resistancefears including stepping through the ice ("FEEEEEEEETS," says a toothy fish below). When at last Bear heads out, the friends come up with a unique mode of support that carries the day. Frost's thin-lined comics play with proportion and have a slapstick quality that helps make the likable, harried hero feel relatable.

Bear's not at all inclined to play in the snow with his friends when he could be tucked inside wearing his favorite pink bathrobe, snacking on pocket-cookies, and keeping his nubby ears warm beneath a fuzzy hood. As he tells persistent woodland pals, he's just far too busy indoors to go ice skatinga protest ironically juxtaposed with the book's images, as an open-dollhouse view of his cozy cabin reveals him dithering blankly about, opening the fridge in boredom, and laying around with his bear-belly in the air. Undeterred, Bear's friends press their cheerful noses against fogged-up windowpanes even as Bear dives under tables and lampshades to avoid their idea of wintry fun. Bear's not so much busy as bothered by all his anxieties about what could happen to a bear-on-ice. What if he falls and gets hurt? What if he slides all the way into a yeti's cave, or his foot goes through the ice and gets nibbled on by hungry sea-critters? After his friends share the things that make them feel brave when trying something new, they finally convince Bear to give it a try, and although Bear's special bathrobe can't really cushion his leap into frozen and frightening new forays, supportive friends can. Frost's character designs, composed in Photoshop using affably slanted, simple lines, saturated natural colors, and doodled-in textures, radiate kid-appeal, with wintry backgrounds packed with clever visual gags and quirky bursts of extra dialogue. Timid readers who need a cocoa-cup of courage to tackle new experiences will resonate with Bear's waffling and winking narrative voice, perhaps discovering for themselves that it's easier to come out of hibernation with a little help from one's friends.

Czech rights to Host, French (North America) rights to Scholastic Canada