Bear with Me

“Inventive humor in both the text and the illustrations. . . . Its sweet message . . . will resonate with plenty of youngsters. . . . This charming offering can be enjoyed even by those whose families are staying just the way they are.” — School Library Journal

“Kornell brings a wry, at times epigrammatic style to Owen’s narration, and he’s clearly inviting his audience to share in the joke of the ursine twist on the usual family-addition story. Mixed-media art has the soft familiarity of watercolors with a crisp and comedic immediacy conferred by a cartoonish vigor. . . . Gary in particular is a big, appealingly goofy presence. . . . Kids will argue that they’d rather have a bear than a baby sib anytime, but they’ll gigglingly take the point.” — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Gentle, wordless pages explore their developing friendship and invite readers to provide the narration. . . . A sweet and refreshing spin on the old new-sibling plot.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A displacement story with a twist. . . . Portraying vulnerability without making one’s characters look like whiners or wusses is no easy task, but Kornell succeeds. . . . He sets a sweetly plaintive mood that makes even the expected happy ending quietly gratifying.” — Publishers Weekly