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A Boy And A Bear In A Boat (2012)

by Dave Shelton(Favorite Author)

3.37 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0385752490 (ISBN13: 9780385752497)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

David Fickling Books

review 1: What a strange little book, on both the 2012 Guardian longlist and the 2013 Carnegie shortlist. The title sums it up, and there's never an explanation of any kind for how the boy and bear get there: with the lovely opening, "'Welcome aboard,' said the bear, standing and turning to face the boy," we're off on what starts as a sort of river crossing but turns into a sea journey, complete with storms, shipwrecks, and a sea monster with lots of eyes and tentacles. The bear has brought sandwiches, but the boy prefers his cheese and pickle to the bear's "broccoli, sherbet and gooseberry" or "anchovy, banana and custard"; the bear makes tea precisely at four o'clock, but the boy thinks tea is boring. Shelton's illustrations, mostly black and white but some full-color spreads, add... more to the humor: for example, the cover of the edition I read shows the bear's map, blue marked only with faint gridlines and a teacup stain. It gives a whole new meaning to the familiar question, "Are we nearly there?" The last of many short chapters is called "The End," but...
review 2: An endearing and very funny page-turner in which not much happens - other than we witness a young boy gradually bonding with a bear on a boat on a never-ending voyage. Witty and funny - and with fabulously simple illustrations - this has much to say about 'getting on with it' in the most basic sense of every day life. The ending may disappoint and puzzle young readers - and some of the dry humour of the bear may go above their heads, but it's a delight to read! As much (if not more) for adults as for children! I was a little skeptical that it seemed to mimic the Life of Pi idea - but all is forgiven. less

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