School Library Journal Starred Review (Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

PreS-K Bear is sleeping soundly when a mischievous wolf comes along and steals his beloved teddy bear from his arms. Crying, Bear chases after him. When Wolf throws the teddy far away, Bear eats him in a single bite and then proceeds to look for his toy. Lion picks it up and then throws it far away as well; Bear eats him, too. When it lands in a nest, a bird picks it up and flies away&30;so Bear eats Bird's two eggs. And so on until a friendly octopus finds the teddy and delivers it back to Bear. Bear then frees all the animals (including the two now-hatched baby birds) from his stomach. He goes back to sleep with his stuffed friend and all is well. The endpapers further tell the story. Children will relate to this wordless tale of losing a beloved source of comfort; Bear acts out, but the tantrum ends as soon as he is reunited with his teddy bear. Suspense builds as Bear continues to swallow the animals he encounters, but the animals are seen in cross-section inside Bear's stomach, reassuring readers that they are alive and well. The art is lovely; the crosshatch style and color palette are unique and childlike. Dor&3;mus depicts the animals' emotions in gorgeous ways, such as the worry in the eyes of Lion when the eggs start hatching or the spread showing Bear under a rain cloud, mourning the loss of his teddy. This charming book is a winner.— Laura Lutz, Pratt Institute, New York City

ALA Booklist (Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2012)

What's the real lesson here? Don't ever take a bear's teddy bear. He is not going to react well. In this wordless picture book, part of the Stories without Words series, a wily fox snatches a sleeping bear's purple stuffed toy. Fox is oh so cavalier, tossing the teddy in the air d so Bear eats the fox. Before the bear can grab the woefully discarded plush, a lion comes along and snatches it up, so it's bye-bye Lion, and he is swallowed whole. And that's how it goes, as one animal after the next lands inside the bear's stomach (which kids get to see in humorous cross-sections). Eventually, once a comrade returns the teddy, the bear, who has grown larger and larger with each consumed animal, essentially hacks everyone up from his belly. Dorémus' crosshatched illustrations express emotion beautifully, and the story is well paced as a series of varyingly sized vignettes on white pages, much like a storyboard. It's all pretty funny, and kids may relate to Bear's primal rage.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

After a wolf swipes a sleeping bear's teddy, the bear chases after him. The wolf tosses the teddy; the bear swallows the wolf, and so it goes with other animals who thwart the bear's efforts. Offsetting all this ferociousness is the delicate, etching-like art and, of course, the wordless book's kid-charming premise: that a brutish bear is undone without his teddy.

Kirkus Reviews

When Bear loses his beloved teddy bear, he will stop at nothing to get him back in this wordless romp. When Wolf runs off with his beloved sleeping companion, Bear sets out in furious pursuit. Wolf flings Teddy away, and angry Bear swallows him whole. The scenario is repeated as Bear confronts Lion, who tosses Teddy off a cliff, and Eagle swoops down to claim him. Lion joins Wolf in Bear's stomach. Bear, still in hot pursuit, climbs up to Eagle's aerie. Eagle flies off, and Bear swallows two eggs. Still in dogged pursuit, he encounters Elephant. Same scenario. At long last, Octopus finally hands over Teddy. The enstomached animals and eggs escape, and Bear happily--and finally--goes back to sleep. In this wordless tale, the French illustrator uses a storyboard format of large and small encircled scenes on a white page to tell an energetic and emotional tale. Bear resembles the titular character from "I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly" as his tummy grows larger and larger, comfortably fitting all, who are often seen in cutaway views sitting and chatting with one another. Colorful drawings with overlays of swirling lines sweep by at a fast pace as the action grows increasingly frantic, mirroring Bear's growing anxiety. A lesson to be learned: don't mess with the teddy. An imaginative and well-designed chase. (Picture book. 2-6)