Mother Bruce

Mother Bruce
Written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins

My rating: ★★★★★

ISBN: 978-1484730881
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Date of publication: November 24, 2015
Age: 3 - 7 years

Themes: bears, geese, cooking, migration, family relationships

Bruce the bear likes to keep to himself. That, and eat eggs. But when his hard-boiled goose eggs turn out to be real, live goslings, he starts to lose his appetite. And even worse, the goslings are convinced he's their mother. Bruce tries to get the geese to go south, but he can't seem to rid himself of his new companions. What's a bear to do?

A completely lovable grumpy old bear with some adorable goslings?? What more could you want?! Just LOOK at how wonderful the illustrations are: (the baby carrier...)

I read this months ago. I can't believe it's taken me this long to review this book. Because, obviously, it's awesome. It has all of the elements I love: a slightly irreverent humor, inside jokes for adult readers ("are these eggs free-range organic?"), irresistibly charming illustrations, educational elements and varied vocabulary, a storyline kids can love, a perfect readaloud for storytime...I could just go on and on. The point is: I laughed out loud and so will you. And so will your kids. That's what's so great!! Go read it!

Good readalikes include: Goodnight Already! and I Love You Already! (gotta love the bear/fowl combo), and the hilarious family mashup makes me think of Wolfie the Bunny.

Find it at your library or on Amazon