Book Review: The Good Bear / Sarah Lean / 8 – 12 / Illus. Fiona Woodcock

Published by Simon Schuster

I lifted the lid.

Inside the box was a pair of rubber boots.

I don’t think anyone would be excited by the gift of a pair of rubber boots. These though, were a practical gift, if not particularly wanted. At all.

More useful for exploring the wilds of Norway…but a disappointment none-the-less, if you are hoping for something totally different…

This is a tale of a bear and a young hopeful author. A tale of friendship, stolen salmon, bravery and a story about what is important. It’s a story of families, thick socks, fathers and daughters, ignorance, snow and a typewriter. It is though, most of all, about a brown bear…

Illustrated by Fiona Woodcock, this is a story for cold winter evenings. Perhaps even for those nights when snow begins to fall. Perhaps then, a story for Christmas.

I am pleased to say this has the right ending. Not necessarily the one that you might expect – but definitely the right one.

People’s attitudes towards animals are usually the result of ignorance or education. That is, for those who are not soft, cuddly or ‘cute’. For those that are, in addition, dangerous, the response can be all the more extreme.

There are those, however, that look beyond the immediate…

This is a story of ignorance and education…and love.

Book Review: The Sand Dog / Sarah Lean / 8 and upwards

Published by Harper Collins

Azi is waiting for his grandfather to come home again. He believes that without him he doesn’t belong on the island which has been his home for so long. His uncle tells him that his grandfather has gone to London, but London is a long way away, perhaps though, Azi will be able to go there, and bring him home. Surely he just needs a passport.

It isn’t easy being different, a gift from the sea, without his grandfather. All Azi wants to do is to go back to living with his grandfather by the beach.

This is a story of a monster, many tentacled and the man who leaves to fight the battle against it. Leaving a boy behind, misunderstanding and misinformed too.

This is also a story of new friendship, of friends both canine and human who support Azi, while he waits for his grandfather to return and its a story of hope…oh, and its also about turtles, coming to breed.

The picture below is taken from the Internet – a Loggerhead turtle off Kefalonia Island.

https://kefaloniaisland.org/stories/the-loggerhead-turtles-caretta-caretta-in-kefalonia/