posted on 26 Feb 2017

The Bear Who Stared by Duncan Beedie

Duncan Beedie’s early career was as an animator in children's TV and he then branched into design, illustration and animation for websites, games and educational apps. This is his first picture book and seems to reflect these influences as he uses a retro drawing style with strong blocks of colour and simple shapes.

There is something rather endearing about this particular bear who stares out steadily at the reader from the front cover. He reminds me of several serious faced young children that I have come across over the years who become so inexplicably fascinated by a person that they fix on them and even crane their necks to keep them in view for as long as possible. What exactly are they looking at? Have they detected some magical quality that adults cannot see? I have occasionally been the subject of this stare which can be very uncomfortable and disconcerting, especially if one laughs it off and attempts some jolly banter as this seems to make the stare even more intense.

We are drawn into his hypnotic stare with a double page spread that importantly just shows his eyes. The bear is very lonely and so makes several overtures to other creatures in the forest disturbing a family of ladybirds enjoying their very civilized looking picnic breakfast on a large leaf. I love the humorous detail here as one is about to eat a croissant, another has a piece of toast and another has a boiled egg. They clearly can't relax and so pack up and scuttle off to escape his stare. Another memorable moment is when the bear interrupts a very grumpy badger who is busy shaving and so he is bitten on the nose in true cartoon style (my two year old granddaughter's favourite part).

The bear’s anti -social problems are eventually sorted out by a frog who spots him staring forlornly into a pond, trying to make sense of his green reflection. He explains to him that he is just being curious and doesn’t mean to offend anyone. The frog suggests that he needs to change his expression and try to smile if he wants to make friends. In time honoured picture book tradition, this simple solution means that the second part of the story allows him to revisit all the previously unfriendly creatures who respond very positively to his new demeanour. But he is obviously a bear who is given to introspection, so occasionally spends time staring at his own reflection in the pond, and there is nothing wrong with that.

This is an excellent picture book with a very pleasing uncluttered design and composition that rather reminds me of the iconic Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins. It certainly deserves its nomination for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, 2017.   

Karen Argent

February 2017