If I had been organized, this would have been a post about Thanksgiving. But, here we are, on the eve of Thanksgiving and I don't have any Thanksgiving-themed board books. So, instead, I thought I'd post about Kevin Henkes's, Old Bear -- a wonderful book.
Old Bear -- while, again, not a story about Thanksgiving -- is a story about the passing of time and the changing of seasons. Since we are in the midst of a temperature drop and are surrounded outside by an abundance of fallen leaves, I thought it only fitting to pick Old Bear.
In Henkes's story, Old Bear is already snug in his den as wind, leaves, and snow whip past his cave entrance. He's dreaming about spring---about flowers and trees, and taking a nap in a giant crocus. Then his dream turns to summer. The sun is a daisy and all the leaves on the trees are butterflies. When he dreams about fall, everything is red, yellow, orange, and brown. Then comes wintertime and Old Bear dreams that everything is covered in ice. At night the sky is ablaze with stars of all different colors. Winter seems long.
But before Old Bear knew it, he had dreamed for so long that the cold weather outside had turned to spring! And walking out of his cave, Old Bear was welcomed by the most beautiful day. He almost thought he was dreaming.
From spring, to summer, to fall, to winter, Henkes shows us just how different, and unique each season is. And for that, we can be thankful during this time of thanksgiving.
Happy holiday!