The new liBEARian / story by Alison Donald ; pictures by Alex Willmore.

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A visit to the library can be full of surprises. When the librarian is late for story time, the children go off to look for her and follow mysterious paw prints to find a bear sitting at her desk. Is the bear a new librarian? Not exactly. The new LiBEARian opens a book about bears and utters a loud growl. The kids love it! Then the real librarian appears and sends the bear back into the book he came from. A fun twist at the end rounds out this winsomely illustrated tale of a universal childhood experience--story time at the library--infused with magic.

Author Notes

Alison Donald is a pediatric occupational therapist and lives with her family in Surrey, England. The New LiBEARian is her first book. www.alisondonald.com

Alex Willmore holds a degree in illustration for children's publishing and lives with his family in Northampton, England. T he New LiBEARian is his first picture book.

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2-Dee and the other children are sitting in a cozy library nook waiting for storytime to begin, but the librarian, Ms. Merryweather, is nowhere to be found. After searching a bit, the kids come across giant-size paw prints, a sticky-with-honey desk, some torn-to-pieces pages, and a scruffy-looking critter they assume is a new librarian. With a wordless nod, the ursine individual agrees to read them a story, not about pirates or princesses, but about bears, of course, enthusiastically roaring, growling, and stomping his way through the tale. "EEEEE," the delighted children scream, and ask their storyteller to "Read it again!" When Ms. Merryweather finally appears (she was cleaning up hot lava from a volcano eruption in the Ancient History section), she begins to read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," only to discover that Baby Bear is missing from the pages. Everything is set to rights and the book ends with the revelation that another literary personage has gone AWOL. The tale is crisply told and the buoyant illustrations, showing library stacks teeming with spinning planets, pirate ships, and imaginary creatures, depict a delightfully anything-can-happen atmosphere. VERDICT This fun read-aloud celebrates the camaraderie and wonder of sharing stories in a group setting and the power of imagination.-Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

An unexpected guest shows up for story time in this light, amusing debut by U.K. author Donald. When the librarian fails to appear for story hour, a trail of clues leads the children "through a galaxy, into an ocean, and down a runway" until they find a new librarian-a friendly, if wild looking, bear. "Could you read us a scary story?" they ask, and the bear happily obliges with a book about-what else?-bears. He roars and stomps through the tale (in the book's funniest detail, he isn't able to talk, only growl), leaving the children begging for more until their usual librarian appears. "Sorry I'm late," she explains. "A volcano erupted in the Ancient History section, and there was hot lava everywhere." She begins to read from "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," but Baby Bear is missing from the tale-and the identity of the "new librarian" becomes clear. In bright, busy digital collages, newcomer Willmore depicts the library as a place where anything can happen, bolstering the story's unspoken message about the magic that awaits in books. Ages 4-7. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

When Dee and friends set out to find their missing librarian, they discover a bear in Ms. Merryweather's place! The pencil and digital-media illustrations burst with humorous details, such as 101 Recipes for Honey on the liBEARian's desk. The final twist--the bear has snuck out of a Goldilocks book along with another surprise character--will keep readers entertained through the last page. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

The title of this light tale by debut picture-book creators is presumably referencing a common mispronunciation, although that's (probably fortunately) not referenced once the story begins. Inside, readers meet a diverse group of kids wondering why their librarian is late for storytime. A trail of paw prints and spilled honey lead them to whom they assume is her replacement, but he seems more interested in roaring, growling, and stomping than reading. Once the regular Ms. Merryweather eventually arrives with her stereotypical looks and name similar to Miss Merriweather in Michelle Knudsen's Library Lion (2006) it becomes evident that the bear's place is inside the book she's planning to read. That story? Goldilocks, which happens to also be missing another character, leading to the wink-wink on the last page. The dusty earth-toned pencil-and-digital-media art gives a wholesome look to this attempt to encourage the sense of libraries as imaginative places. Appropriately, this would make a fine read-aloud.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2017 Booklist

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