ONE Very Big Bear

by Alice Briere-Haquet, Olivier Philipponneau (Illustrator), Raphaele Enjary (Illustrator)

Overview

As far as he can tell, Bear is the biggest thing around. He might even be a giant! It's not long before other, smaller animals set him straight in this charmingly illustrated book about counting and relative size. Together, two walruses, three foxes, and so on, are the same size as Bear, each teasing him for foolishly thinking that there is nothing bigger than he. When six sardines arrive to tell Bear that together, they are just as big as he is, Bear has had enough and gobbles them up for breakfast.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419721175
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	716,543
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Alice Brière-Haquet is an author and a teacher. She has published many children's books in French. She lives in France.

Olivier Philipponneau is a French illustrator who works and lives in Paris.

Raphaële Enjary is a graphic designer who lives and works in Paris.

Editorial Reviews

09/12/2016
Originally published in France, this math-minded picture book introduces a hulking polar bear who is impressed by his own size. “I’m very big!” he proclaims. “I’m almost a giant!” The other polar animals nearby dismiss his size: “You’re not that big,” suggest two walruses who swim up to his ice floe. “Look at this: one + one. We two are just as big as you!” The addition theme continues as three foxes, four sea lions, five penguins, and six sardines hop on each other’s backs to show Bear that they are just as large as he is. In minimalist illustrations that resemble screenprints, Philipponneau and Enjary create rich contrasts by using a color scheme of vivid mint green, black, and white. The closing scene—in which Bear remembers that his mouth is pretty big, too—will leave readers giggling. Ages 3–5. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"An enjoyable read for younger readers."

Booklist

"An enjoyable read for younger readers."

Booklist

10/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—A polar bear stands on a chunk of ice and boasts of his size. When the other animals hear, they stand on one another's heads to show him that he's not that tall. The walruses teeter beside him and say, "We TWO are just as big as you!" As the tower of animals grows in size, so do the opportunities for counting and addition. The ending is something of a shock, but being that the main character is a wild polar bear, the last creatures who question his height (six sardines) make a perfect breakfast. The black-and-white illustrations are striking against the green sky. The column of animals on the right-hand page match the column of addition in the text on the left-hand page. VERDICT A picture book for children who like a bit of a surprise when they are learning their numbers.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta., Canada

School Library Journal

2016-07-20
A counting book finds “ONE white bear” facing off against an increasing number of different creatures in a contest of size. With so many creative and interesting counting books available, a new endeavor in this genre must work hard to stand out from the crowd. This French import seems to run out of steam before it has barely begun. The illustrations are flat, two-color monoprints with stylized, hard-to-distinguish animal shapes. A large white bear stands glumly on an ice floe. “I’m very big!” he announces. “I’m almost a giant!” Two walruses swim up, challenging his size by standing one atop the other. This joke is repeated with three foxes (unlikely residents of an ice floe!), four sea lions, five penguins (even more unlikely, assuming the ice floe is in the Arctic), and six sardines, the last of which unsurprisingly are consumed by the bear on the last page. The goal is apparently to teach very simple addition: each vertical pile of animals is notated as an arithmetical equation, such as ONE + ONE + ONE, but the exercise abruptly concludes at six, not even bothering to get to 10. Numerical notation is not used, and this half-hearted, didactic attempt risks confusion rather than enlightenment. Lacking bounce and any real originality, this big bear falls flat on the ice. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews