Product Description

Little Brown Bear wants to know how much his mother loves him. "You can count the ways," she says. She loves him more than he loves to gobble one pie, more than he loves to read six books, even more than he loves getting nine kisses. But that's not enough for a little bear who isn't ready for bed. Finally, Mama Brown Bear comes up with an example that helps Little Brown Bear count himself to sleep. A mother's deep and steady love and a child's playful spirit are captured in this charming bedtime counting book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1386053 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-19
• Released on: 2003-12-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The title character asks his mother to quantify her love for him, and she good-heartedly obliges, finding examples throughout the day for every number from 1 to 10. "I love you more than you love two green apples plus two red apples," she says, then picks all four for her son to eat. After a day of showing that she loves him more than everything from pies to teddy bears, Mother Brown Bear tucks in her child with "I love you more than all the stars in the sky," and Little Brown Bear falls asleep, appropriately enough, counting. London's (Ice Bear and Little Fox) text is sweet and succinct, though it adds little to the bedtime or parental love genre. Mother Bear appears as somewhat wooden rather than maternally substantial, and both bears' heads seem clumsily affixed to their bodies. But newcomer Moore shows real aesthetic strength and emotional depth in her close-up work, and the affection between the characters is never in doubt. Ages 2-5.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
reschool-Grade 1--Moore debuts with splendid illustrations as Mama Brown Bear enumerates how much she loves her saucy cub. Dressed in human clothing, the mother and child play hide-and-seek, read books, and sample pie. All the while Mama compares their fondness for trees, honey, and a collection of quaint teddy bears to the amount of her love for her youngster, and the numbers increase sequentially. Lots of nuzzling and whispers at the end help create a sweet bedtime closing. London's counting text, inspired by Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How Do I Love Thee" sonnet, employs addition and subtraction as readers travel from 1 to 10, with the cub's repeated declaration that the amounts are "not enough!" London's path to the numbers is a bit disjointed at times, but the cozy scenes in various layouts, edged in a thin blue line for continuity, steal the show.
Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.