posted on 19 Dec 2022

A Best Friend for Bear by Petr Horáček

Who could not be cheered up by the smiling Black Bear on the vividly coloured front cover of this gorgeous new picture book? The rather bashful looking creature looks sideways as he stands against the backdrop of tall grass and distant snow- capped mountains, rather as if he is posing for a photograph. 

I have written before about how this author / illustrator distils so much emotion into a simple text, enhanced by beautifully coloured and textured illustrations throughout. In his recent interview for The Letterpress Project, he acknowledges the influence of Eric Carle on his artistic style which is once again clear to see by his choice of a bold colour palette and broad brushstrokes. 

The problem of Bear’s loneliness is clearly stated on the first page and the rest of the story takes us on his quest to find a friend.  As he wanders hopefully through the forest, he meets Brown Bear who by odd coincidence is also looking for a friend. They make the very sensible decision to continue the search together. They have tremendous fun looking behind hedges and over precipices and soon realise that the difficult task is much easier when shared.  

Despite all their efforts, they just can’t seem to find a friend and so decide to practice by playing hide and seek together. As is the case with many children who play this traditional game, they are not very good at finding secret places, and so I can almost hear the shouts of laughter from an audience of young readers as they spot each bear looking scarcely concealed. 

All is going smoothly until Black Bear is stumped and cannot find Brown Bear anywhere. He realises that he will be very sad if he has lost him forever. When Brown Bear eventually surprises him from his hiding place on a branch above his head, they are both delighted to realise that they have each found the friend they were looking for:

‘’Isn’t it amazing how you can find a friend when you least expect it?”

And together they stride off the page all set for more adventures. 

I strongly recommend sharing this gentle story with children who will be inspired to think about the qualities that they value in friends. I am also sure that they will be encouraged to draw their own pictures of bears playing together against similarly interesting natural landscapes.  

Karen Argent 

December 2022