The bear and the little green thing by Diandian

A little green thing is in the mouth of a bird flying to a warmer climate. The little green thing drops from the bird’s mouth onto the back of a bear. The little green thing is cold and tries to make the bear understand that it would like to stay in its warmth until it has grown enough to move on at its own volition. Over the season it looks after the bear in return for his warmth: he frightens away a beee, fans the bear when it is hot, guards him when he sleeps. Over the months a friendship develops and when it is time for the little green thing to depart, becoming a big green tree somewhere else, the two part as friends, the tree forever held in the bear’s heart.

A wonderful story of the meaning of friendship, of being together even though you are apart, of the depth of feeling between two friends, this book will appeal to children who like to think more deeply about the vicissitudes of life and all that it offers.

Shortlisted for the 2021 World Illustration Award, this story will appeal to thoughtful and design-conscious picture book buyers. The illustrations are magical, drawing the eye across pages of colour, little suspecting at first what the eye is seeing. Cunningly, the bear is revealed, and we view the spectacle of long dark nights and bright days roll around the pages. Using a small range of colour heightens the intensity of the background, the sweep of browns giving the clue to a long semi dark night, and I loved the image of the trees, saplings still, inhabiting the green hills all around. The small sapling is forever in the bear’s heart, even after the little green thing has moved onto its place in the world. 

Themes: Independence, Friendship, Dependence, Forest, Bears, Climate.

Fran Knight