No Bears

Book by McKinlay Meg

Ella proclaims that she is in charge of this book, and this book will have no bears, not a one: "Every time you read a book, it's just BEARS BEARS BEARS." She decrees that her book will have a monster and a princess and a fairy godmother instead, makes herself a crown, and begins her bear-free tale. Readers, however, can see perfectly well in the delicate and droll illustrations that there is a bear in the book they're reading... This is a picture book that will send the reader delightedly back again and again to sort out the layers of reality... Both the story and the inventive digital pictures draw readers in deeper and deeper, along with the many fairy-tale details to discover (clever viewers will spot all the usual suspects, from Little Red Riding Hood to Rapunzel to the Three Little Pigs).
—The Horn Book

"I'm tired of bears. Every time you read a book, it's just BEARS BEARS BEARS," grumps the young narrator. Claiming that you don't need them, she proceeds to craft a story about a monster who sets out to steal a princess and is ultimately foiled by a fairy godmother. Fair enough—but as is evident from the episode's first page on, the godmother hovering watchfully just beyond the edges of each scene is unmistakably ursine... Young fans of David Wiesner's THREE PIGS (2001) and other metafictive romps will be properly amused.
—Kirkus Reviews

Ella is a delightful and creative mirror for any imaginative child, and the bear is that good parent who doesn't require recognition, even as she plays an important role in the visual story. Rudge's busily patterned watercolor pages, comic proportions, and clever details—the billiard-ball-round king's head; Ella's own instructions for making a paper crown; the post-rescue party, featuring pigs in tutus and gingerbread men—invite much exploration.
—Booklist

The text plays off Rudge's winsome illustrations to great effect, with literary references to everything from "The Gingerbread Man" to "The Owl and the Pussycat." The expressive pictures, dancing across the spreads in a palette of yellows, greens, and browns, are so detailed and artistic that one would never know they were created digitally.
—School Library Journal

Most will get a giggle out of the irony and the amusing play on some picture-book and folktale conventions. Rudge's digital illustrations offer the soft translucence of watercolors, with trim, trickly linework delineating the amusingly skewed yet cozily appealing figures.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Rudge's muted and finely crafted illustrations perfectly complement McKinlay's ingenious tale of one little girl's quest to create the perfect bear-free book. Children will delight in finding the various fairy tale characters scattered throughout the pages.
—Library Media Connection

A clever picture book that pokes fun at bears, fairy tales and the way a tale can overtake even its own author... This funny, witty picture book is a great conversation starter about the structure of fairy tales and the role of the narrator.
—Shelf Awareness

In delicate, curlicued drawings, we see an evil monster stomping through the pages to kidnap a princess "so she could read him bedtime stories every night." Rescue comes when the princess cries out, "Someone save me!" and someone does. Who is this someone? Children ages 5-7 will have been chortling all along because they know that the princess is protected by a fairy godmother who happens to be . . . a bear. A charming fable.
—The Wall Street Journal

This fractured fairy tale will entertain readers and inspire plenty of giggles.
—Sweet on Books (WABC-TV)