Hibernation Hotel

Bear’s cave is overcrowded with his animal friends—“Raccoon snored. Beaver fidgeted. And Skunk, quite frankly, was a little bit smelly”—so he decamps to a luxury hotel for his winter hibernation. “This is the life!” he cheers, before downing all of the snacks in the minifridge and gulping water straight from the (gold-plated) toilet. But for some reason Bear can’t get to sleep, and most readers will have a pretty good guess as to what (or rather who) is missing. Even though Kelly’s story charts a predictable course, Brenlla’s chic illustrations bring a lot of fun to the pages, with an aesthetic that feels something like Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel by way of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Attentive readers will notice that Bear’s friends are a lot closer than he thinks, and they’ll have fun spotting the barely hidden animals in and around the hotel. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)