BOOK REVIEW: HAPPY HUG A BEAR DAY!

Today’s holiday deserves TWO book recommendations, don’t you think? I love both of these companion books about a bear named Harold. First up:

TITLE: HAROLD LOVES HIS WOOLLY HAT

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Vern Kousky

PUBLISHER: Random House Studio, 2018

​OPENING LINES:
Harold loves to wear his woolly hat.
Even in the summertime.
He wears it when he goes to school.
He wears it when he goes to sleep.
Harold event wears his woolly hat when he takes his monthly bath.
When Harold wears his woolly hat, he knows he is a special bear--
Different from all the other bears.

​Harold LOVES his hat. When he wears it, he knows he’s a special bear. So, when a crow swoops down and steals it, he’s understandably angry. He offers one trade after another, he begs and pleads, but the crow keeps all that Harold offers and doesn’t return his hat. I loved this book from beginning to end, from the adorably illustrated Harold on the cover inviting me inside, to the under-the-dust-jacket surprise illustration, to the sweet storyline that urged me to turn page after page, to the heartfelt resolution. This one gave me all the feels!
 
Read this review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Next, we have:

​

​TITLE: HAROLD HATES TO HIBERNATE

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Vern Kousky

PUBLISHER: Random House Studio, 2024

OPENING LINES:
 
Harold loves the bright fall days.
He loves borrowing a bit of honey from the bees
and eating all the apples in the apple trees.
But what Harold truly loves the most I the time he spends with his friends the crows.
Harold wishes these days would last forever.

I’m with Harold. I don’t like it when the days get shorter and shorter “until it’s dark before playtime has even begun.” This sweet follow-up to Harold Loves His Woolly Hat has all the things I loved in the first book: adorable illustrations, an under-the-dust-jacket surprise illustration (check out that grumpy expression!), sweet lines of text and story themes (a bedtime story with a dab of kindness and hint of hibernation), and a heartfelt ending. Love it!
 
 
Read this review on Goodreads and Amazon.
 
Did you read and like these books?
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