Famous Bears and Friends: One Hundred Years of Teddy Bear Stories, Poems - Hardcover

Janet Wyman Coleman is a writer and video producer.

Grade 3 Up-Many people are familiar with the story of Teddy Roosevelt refusing to shoot an injured bear, and thus inspiring the creation of the teddy bear. Coleman offers this story, as well as the tale of German seamstress Margarete Steiff and the stuffed-animal empire she launched at roughly the same time. Coleman's book is a veritable love letter to these beloved toys, sprinkling stories and poems of favorite bears such as Winnie-the-Pooh, Paddington, and Corduroy with factual histories of their creators. Real-life stories of teddy bears such as Senior Under Officer Edward Bear, the mascot of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst's Parachuting Club, and Kumataro, the first teddy bear in space, round out the collection. Crisp photographs illustrate the historical segments, while illustrations from the original books accompany the stories and poems. With its wide, square format and generous use of white space and decorative borders, this collection is sure to be a hit with teddy bear aficionados, though its appeal may be more for adult collectors than for children.
Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia
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