Reviews

PreS-Gr 2-- No surprises here. The ursine stars of this popular nonsense ditty provide plenty of opportunity for Hague to draw his favorite subjects. In a fairly literal interpretation of the lyrics, he shows lots of teddy bears, in various shapes, sizes, and degrees of cuteness, heading into an autumnal wood to cavort well beyond the watchful eyes of their human owners. Children will not fail to miss the one curious child who follows his own teddy to the picnic site, since he is the one creature whose pale visage and upright posture are distinctly human despite his fuzzy bear costume. ?- Combining realism with romanticism, Hague remains true to his highly recognizable style, creating an appealing fantasy world full of curious details such as lithesome fairies and other fey creatures rendered in pen-and-ink line drawings washed in warm earth tones and livened by touches of soft reds and blues. The arhythmic, and at times, nonrhyming verse, captioned in unobtrusive black-bordered boxes and set against the full double-page illustrations, might read awkwardly to those unfamiliar with the tune. Unfortunately, no musical notation is provided. --Dorothy Houlihan, formerly at White Plains Pub . Lib . , NY

A boy joins the bears for a magical forest feast in the board book edition of The Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy, illus. by Michael Hague. (May) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.