posted on 14 Mar 2024

Can I Come Too? by Owen Davey

Relationships between siblings are not always easy so it's good to see another picture book that explores this familiar theme. The general mood of this one is light-hearted and sometimes very funny as the older bear is shown being pestered by the younger cub who doesn’t want to miss out on adventures. 

This internationally acclaimed author and illustrator was apparently inspired by observing his own two daughters playing together. The story is made more powerful by his distinctive geometric artistic style and bold colour palette that gives a vintage and very homely feel.

The cover picture immediately establishes the dynamic between the siblings as we see the bigger bear striding out with a cross facial expression followed by the younger cub. I asked a group of four-year-olds to guess what he/she was thinking if there was a thought bubble and their responses were interesting:

‘I wish she would just go away’

‘Why can’t she just stay at home and leave me alone?’

‘She is always following me all the time – I don’t like it!’

We also talked about where they might be going as there were plenty of clues to indicate a fishing trip. Having established keen interest in the story, we turned the page to look closely at the many different kinds of patterned fish shown on the front-end papers. There was some concern about what the fish hooks were for and, not being that comfortable about the ethics of fishing, I moved on swiftly! 

It seems that Teddy, the older sibling is charged with looking after Cub and is determined to get the message across that fishing is a serious business. We were alarmed to see Cub is left standing alone by the shore and Teddy rows away in his canoe, although one child exclaimed that this was a good idea ‘because she would mess about and fall in’. 

Instead, Cub skips along the shore and trips over a scuttling crab – then crashes off the riverbank into the water which is shown on a dramatic double page spread that shows an unusual angle above them both in the canoe. It is Teddy that ends up in the water, which we thought was a good lesson for being so unfriendly. But Teddy continues to be aloof and dismissive of Cub’s efforts to join in and won’t even share the fishing rod. Fortunately, the younger bear is resilient and creative and so is able to make an unusual fishing rod using the natural resources that are all around. But disaster strikes again as the hapless and accident- prone Cub ends up causing more havoc. Will Teddy ever loosen up and enjoy spending time together? As the story progresses this seems increasingly unlikely:

“Go and wait over there,” growls Teddy.

“Little cubs only get in the way.”

Even though the good-natured Cub is happy to sit down for a well-earned rest, we were all delighted to see that she eventually catches a fish in a very unusual way, and that no hooks were involved!

I strongly recommend this splendid story with a very positive ending which will generate lots of discussion and laughter and hopefully inspire some creative drawings and paintings as well.       

Published by Rocket Bird Books, you will be able to buy this picture book from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

Karen Argent

March 2024