REVIEW: Thank You Bear by Greg Foley

Thank You Bear by Greg Foley, Viking, 2007.

2008 Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner

This is the greatest thing ever! Have you ever had that experience? You saw something or found something and said I know who’d like this. It will be a hit. Then reality (in the form of other people’s opinion) sets in. “That’s not so great,” they tell you. They are naysayers. Party-poopers. Wet blankets. Some refer to them as toxic people. These "friends" tell you they are being practical. Come on, let me dream a little!

That’s what Thank You Bear is about. Bear finds something he thinks a friend will like, but others don’t see it that way. Read the book to find out how Bear's dream turn out.

Thank You Bear is a great experience into how to hold on to our dreams, even when other people put them down.  It is a simple read with engaging illustrations, and as we would want, has a happy ending.

About the Author/Illustrator: Greg Foley hails from Austin, Texas. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design, and now works in Greenwich Village. Thank You Bear, and a number of other Greg Foley's follow-up books are in many languages -- because the tell universal stories.

This is a one of a series of reviews of Charlotte Zolotow picture book winners. 

For more about Alan Elliott, go to his website, www.alanelliott.com