cover image What’s Up, Bear? A Book About Opposites

What’s Up, Bear? A Book About Opposites

Frieda Wishinsky, illus. by Sean L. Moore. Owlkids (PGW, dist.), $11.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-926973-51-7

Wishinsky and Moore use a family trip to New York City to portray 14 pairs of opposing words in this companion to Where Are You, Bear? Sophie and her patchwork stuffed animal, Bear, are opposites themselves: where Sophie is exuberant and daring (“Go, train, go!” she shouts as they peer from a subway car), Bear is cautious (“Stop, train, stop,” he says, visibly relieved as they exit to visit the Museum of Natural History). As Sophie and Bear come to know “wet” and “dry” in Central Park and “lost” and “found” at a toy store full of stuffed bears, Moore’s crisp digital cartoons capture both the duo’s fluctuating emotions and the energy of the city. Ages 2–5. (Oct.)