31 January 2021 THE BEAR IN MY FAMILY by Maya Tatsukawa, Dial, March 2020, 32p., ISBN: 978-0-525-55582-7

“There was only my sister left. To ask your big sister to be your ally is like asking Nova Scotia to go into battle with you. 

But I knocked on her door anyway. Loudly, since the Monkees were playing.

She pulled it open and stood there, her hands on her hips. Her lipstick was the color of a new fire engine.

‘Mrs. Baker hates my guts,’ I told her. 

‘So do I,’ she said.

‘I could use some help with this.’

‘Ask Mom.’

‘She says that Mrs. Baker doesn’t hate my guts.’

‘Ask Dad.’

Silence--if you call it silence when the Monkees are playing.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘It might hurt a business deal, right? So he won’t help the Son Who Is Going to Inherit Hoodhood and Associates.’

‘What am I supposed to do?’

‘If I were you, I’d head to California,’ she said.

‘Try again.’

She leaned against her door. ‘Mrs. Baker hates your guts, right?’

I nodded.

‘Then Holling, you might try getting some.’

And she closed her door.”

--from THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt (2007)

“The bear is really loud, 

really bossy,

and always hungry. 

Oh, and the bear is strong.

Maybe too strong.

For some reason, my parents think the bear is family.”

The so-called “bear” turns out to be his big sister. And when his big sister stands up to the kids bullying him in the park, he begins to see the up-side of living with his cantankerous and messy elder sibling. 

There are many great picture books told from the perspective of the older sibling who is trying to come to terms with the intruder...err...younger sibling. Having grown up as the eldest sibling, I have my own share of those tales.

But this early reader picture book probes the far-less-frequently examined viewpoint of the younger brother dealing with the older sister. It’s a short story that’s fun and enlightening.

THE BEAR IN MY FAMILY is illustrated digitally, employing handmade texturing. The effect is inviting, reminiscent of block- or sponge-printing. 

Richie Partington, MLIS

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