Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Dragonfly Books (2018), Edition: Reprint, 40 pages
Description
"When a sandwich goes missing, it seems that a bear is the unlikely culprit"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member keristars
This book surprised me! I wish I had discovered it when I was young, but it's just as great to find it as an adult. I knew from the cover and a general description on the book order page that it would be a little bit silly, but I was not expecting the plot twist at the end!
I mentioned it to my
In particular, the twist at the end is probably the most difficult for the littlest kids to understand, though it's the thing that took this from a book I enjoy to a book I truly love. Perceptive readers will realize the narrator is unreilable: the story about a bear in a strange forest who eats your sandwich is being told by the actual sandwich-eater: a small dog. It's an exercise in tall tales to escape blame! And in the very last page, the dog barks instead of using words - did the little girl even understand the story she was being told? There's so many fun layers to the twist, and I adore it!
The illustrations are a perfect match for the humorous story. They are painterly with visible brushstrokes - gouache, perhaps? - and full of life. Mostly they tend to be yellow or yellow-green, fitting for a sunny day in the park, with accents in blue and orange. The pacing varies as the black bear goes on his adventure, which accentuates the humor and liveliness. The bear itself is almost always shown in the middle of movement - stretching, crouching, climbing, hiding - with the stretch-and-pull technique of cartoons. Really, the illustrations are fantastic.
I'm very happy to add this book to my collection of excellent picture books!
I mentioned it to my
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sister, who is an early elementary teacher (ages 4 through 7, usually), and she agreed - "it's a good one!" At the most superficial level, it's an exercise for kids to read or listen to the text, which describes a forest, while looking at illustrations of a city - an introduction to metaphor and imaginative descriptions. I'm curious about how my 4 year old nephew would react to the story, but I suspect he would be annoyed that the pictures and text don't match. My sister concurs - in her experience, older kids respond a little better.In particular, the twist at the end is probably the most difficult for the littlest kids to understand, though it's the thing that took this from a book I enjoy to a book I truly love. Perceptive readers will realize the narrator is unreilable: the story about a bear in a strange forest who eats your sandwich is being told by the actual sandwich-eater: a small dog. It's an exercise in tall tales to escape blame! And in the very last page, the dog barks instead of using words - did the little girl even understand the story she was being told? There's so many fun layers to the twist, and I adore it!
The illustrations are a perfect match for the humorous story. They are painterly with visible brushstrokes - gouache, perhaps? - and full of life. Mostly they tend to be yellow or yellow-green, fitting for a sunny day in the park, with accents in blue and orange. The pacing varies as the black bear goes on his adventure, which accentuates the humor and liveliness. The bear itself is almost always shown in the middle of movement - stretching, crouching, climbing, hiding - with the stretch-and-pull technique of cartoons. Really, the illustrations are fantastic.
I'm very happy to add this book to my collection of excellent picture books!
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LibraryThing member Lizjensen
In this book, a bear leaves the forest and ends up in the city. He explores the city and all investigates all the smells. He soon happens upon a sandwich and eats it. Afterwords he heads back to the forest.
The theme of this book is to have fun in new environments. The bear had a fun time exploring
The theme of this book is to have fun in new environments. The bear had a fun time exploring
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with very colorful illustrations. This would be a fun story to show children because they can see the city from a different viewpoint, which can help them be observant of their surroundings. Show Less
LibraryThing member katelyndraper
A bear adventures out of the woods and into the big city. He describes his interesting surroundings. He comes across a sandwich that he just has to have. He sneaks but it is still caught by a group of dogs. He decides it's time to go back to the forest he loves. The book ends by a dog telling a
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little girl that he promises he didn't eat the sandwich! Show Less
LibraryThing member yvonne.sevignykaiser
Adorable tale with an even cuter twist at the end.
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
After eating all of the berries in a truck and then falling asleep inside, a bear inadvertently finds himself travelling to the city (or does he?) in this delightfully humorous tale from Julia Sarcone-Roach. Once there, the bear explores the many climbing opportunities, interesting smells, and
This entire story, of course, is related to the little girl whose sandwich it was by a helpful little dog, whose 'Ruff, Ruff, Ruff" disguises his tale. Is he an unreliable narrator, whose story is meant to disguise his own theft of the sandwich? Or does the humor lie in the fact that he is unable to communicate his complicated tale to the girl, who only hears his barking? Whatever the case may be, The Bear At Your Sandwich is delightfully amusing, with droll artwork that greatly adds to the entertainment. The cover illustration is one of my favorites, and makes me chuckle, although all of the bear's expressions are deftly captured throughout. Recommended to anyone who enjoys humorous picture-books, especially those with unreliable narrators.
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strange 'trees.' He finds new kinds of fun when he reaches a park, and then he stumbled upon a delicious-looking sandwich... Unable to resist, he gobbles it up before fleeing, eventually finding his way home again.This entire story, of course, is related to the little girl whose sandwich it was by a helpful little dog, whose 'Ruff, Ruff, Ruff" disguises his tale. Is he an unreliable narrator, whose story is meant to disguise his own theft of the sandwich? Or does the humor lie in the fact that he is unable to communicate his complicated tale to the girl, who only hears his barking? Whatever the case may be, The Bear At Your Sandwich is delightfully amusing, with droll artwork that greatly adds to the entertainment. The cover illustration is one of my favorites, and makes me chuckle, although all of the bear's expressions are deftly captured throughout. Recommended to anyone who enjoys humorous picture-books, especially those with unreliable narrators.
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LibraryThing member gregresch
A story about sandwich stealing bears told from the point of view of a dog who witnessed the entire crime.
LibraryThing member Davis22
A fun story in a story about a bear that falls asleep in a berry truck, only to awaken in the city. In the bears wanderings, he happens to come across a sandwich left unattended. As luck would have it, the bear is spotted by the heroic dog of a young girl that just so happens to be the owner of the
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sandwich, who regretfully informs her that, heroic as he was, was only able to save one tiny piece of lettuce before the bear made his escape back into the woods. Fact or fiction? You decide! Show Less
LibraryThing member SatinaJensen
Story of how the bear got from the forest to the city and ate the girls sandwich at the park; all told from the view of a dog that caught him eating the sandwich.
LibraryThing member Lisa2013
Okay, this book is absolutely adorable. It’s great fun and I would recommend it to children, for independent readers and reading aloud to groups and one to one.
I admit that throughout the story I was very concerned for the bear because things don’t go well for bears when they’re in close
But I loved the twist ending, and even before it, I was softly chuckling to myself on many pages.
The best thing about this book is its illustrations. The pictures are lush and beautiful and colorful, with just the right amount of realism.
As a vegan and thinking of vegan children, I was grateful that the contents of the sandwich weren’t revealed (because it would have likely contained animal products) and that berries were the only food specified.
I admit that throughout the story I was very concerned for the bear because things don’t go well for bears when they’re in close
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proximity to human habitats. But I loved the twist ending, and even before it, I was softly chuckling to myself on many pages.
The best thing about this book is its illustrations. The pictures are lush and beautiful and colorful, with just the right amount of realism.
As a vegan and thinking of vegan children, I was grateful that the contents of the sandwich weren’t revealed (because it would have likely contained animal products) and that berries were the only food specified.
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LibraryThing member Sullywriter
Clever. Never trust a dog.
LibraryThing member mmeharvey
This book was marvelous. The story is beautiful set against a watercolor background. The blurred illustrations give the story a surreal feeling as we read about how bear came to find himself in the city, temptingly close to a sandwich that he simply could not resist. The story outlines his journey
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back to his forest home. The twist at the end of the book directly relates to the blurred visuals and had me laughing out loud. I will definitely be using this as a read aloud for my primary students. I think the "kindies" will enjoy it the most. Show Less
LibraryThing member CMcNeely
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The illustrations were a great mix of classic watercolor and a funny spin. The play on storytelling and tall tales is fun, and gives readers an opportunity to learn about tall tales and white lies. All in all, it is entertaining, comical, and I can see students
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really connecting to it. Show Less
LibraryThing member williamlong33
This story is very colorful and full of opportunities for studying the full page spreads. Lots of interesting details spring up the longer you stay with any one image. Great for read aloud in a group, and introduces the concept of questioning the information that we are being given. A good question
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to ask at the end: "Do we believe the narrator is telling the truth?" Show Less
LibraryThing member childrenslitpdx
A humorous story about a bear who, led by hunger, travels out of the forest into the city in the back of a truck. While there, he is searching around for food and finally finds a sandwich in the park to eat. At the end of the story, it is revealed that a dog had made up this elaborate story about
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the bear eating the sandwich, so as to cover his tracks with the little girl whose sandwich it was. Show Less
LibraryThing member MirandaBee
I liked this book because it was very funny. The pictures showed the bear in the city climbing up electric poles that he called trees. It also showed him looking for food in the trash, seeing a raccoon, and getting scared of the cats in the city. The illustrations were great. I also liked the
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ending of the book when the dog was telling the girl the story about how the bear ate her sandwich. It seemed to me like he was covering up the fact that he actually ate her sandwich. Show Less
LibraryThing member KrystalKeroack
The illustrations in the story helps propel this story forward after giving away the ending during the first few lines. I like that in the end, it was a dog that was telling the story of how the bear ended up eating the sandwich. You could have children come up with a situation where they tell the
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ending of the story right away, and draw a graphic novel type book describing how it happened. Show Less
LibraryThing member wichitafriendsschool
This is a fun story about a bear that ate a sandwich. At the end we discover it is narrated by a child's dog ... who is telling the story to blame an imaginary bear for what happened to the sandwich.
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Oh! I love love love the incredibly expressive illustrations, the wonderfully detailed and funny bear, the winning and interesting story. Yup. It's a winner. New Favorite Picture Book!
LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
This is the unlikely story of a bear that wanders from his forest onto a truck and ends up in the town/city, where he explores all kinds of things before eating a child's sandwich and wandering back home to the forest.
I don't remember exactly how I heard about this book, but it seemed like a funny
The illustrations are pretty good, although I feel like some of the pages are just a little too busy as the bear explores several different areas of the city per page, even when the text only mentions one or two things.
Overall, it's a solid effort, but didn't strike me as a book I felt I needed to immediately share with the kids in my life.
I don't remember exactly how I heard about this book, but it seemed like a funny
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read. In actuality, it was sort of funny, but not a laugh out loud kind of funny. At the end, it is revealed that the story's narrator is a dog who witnessed the bear eating the child's sandwich -- although there's just enough of a tongue-in-cheek hint that it might be the dog is using the old "the dog ate my homework!" excuse.The illustrations are pretty good, although I feel like some of the pages are just a little too busy as the bear explores several different areas of the city per page, even when the text only mentions one or two things.
Overall, it's a solid effort, but didn't strike me as a book I felt I needed to immediately share with the kids in my life.
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LibraryThing member sloth852
A great one for kids that enjoy naughty characters. Who really did take that sandwich?
Awards
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (Picture Books — 2015)
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Picture Book — 2018)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — Picturebook — 2017)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Children's Picture — 2017)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Grades K-3 — 2017)
Buckaroo Book Award (Nominee — 2016)
California Young Reader Medal (Nominee — 2017)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Primary — 2018)
Mind the Gap Awards (2016)
Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award (Nominee — 2018)
Ezra Jack Keats Book Award (Honor — New Writer — 2016)
Star of the North Picture Book Award (Nominee — 2017)
Iowa Goldfinch Award (Nominee — 2018)
NPR: Books We Love (2015)
CCBC Choices (2016)
Read Aloud Indiana Book Award (Primary — 2017)
Nerdy Book Award (2015)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2015
Physical description
11 inches
ISBN
1984852094 / 9781984852090