We’re very excited to welcome author Laura Gehl to Story Snug. Laura’s newest picture book, Delivery Bear, illustrated by Paco Sordo, has just been published and we love the main character, Zogby the bear, who is doing his best to succeed in his dream job – selling cookies. We’re absolutely delighted to have a signed copy of the book to give away – thank you Laura 🙂
The Story: Zogby is ecstatic when he’s given a one day trial delivering cookies but his new customers are scared of him. As he cycles back to the cookie factory he has an idea which leads him to take a different approach to his new job…
What we love most about Zogby is his realisation that success comes from being himself. We share and empathise with all his emotions and experiences as he finds his own unique way of succeeding at being a cookie seller.
Paco Sordo’s fabulous illustrations are full of humour, we particularly laughed at the pictures of Zogby when he tries to conform to the ‘Fluffy Tails Cookie look’. You can see Paco’s gorgeous illustrations on the Delivery Bear trailer as well as listen to Zogby singing his cookie song.
Delivery Bear is a fabulously funny, heartwarming story. We were really happy when Zogby found a way to make the job work for him 🙂
We have a huge soft spot for picture books featuring bears and would find it really hard to choose just a few. We can totally understand the dilemma that Laura had when we asked her to tell us about her favorite picture books featuring bears!
A few of Laura Gehl’s favorite picture books featuring…bears!
I have a LOT of favorite picture books. I get stressed out whenever I’m asked to name my top five favorites…or, even worse, top three. I could never narrow down my favorites to so few! It would be much easier to name my five favorite types of cookies (chocolate chocolate chip; oatmeal chocolate chip; peanut-butter chocolate chip; classic chocolate chip; chocolate chunk).
Even thinking about my favorite picture books featuring bears generated a huuuuuge number. And I know there were others I forgot to put on that lengthy list.
So rather than saying these are my favorite picture books featuring bears, I’m going with this: here are A FEW of my favorite picture books featuring bears. The tip of the furry, bear-shaped iceburg, if you will.
Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins: When an antisocial bear finds that a flock of goslings think he is their mother…hilarity ensues.
Tea Party Rules by Ame Dykman, illustrated by K.G. Campbell: Like my own Zogby in DELIVERY BEAR, Cub loves cookies. Upon discovering a tea party—with cookies!—in the woods, Cub is ready to chow down. Except the hostess of the tea party has some very exacting rules to follow. A spot-on look at friendship, give and take, and what a hungry bear will do for a tasty cookie.
Corduroy by Don Freeman: This book about a little teddy bear waiting for the right child to come along has stood the test of time.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey: A human mother, a human child, a mama bear, and a small bear. Lots of love and gentle humor in this book, which is another that is just as beloved today as it was in my own childhood.
Goldilocks and Just The One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson: I use this book when I teach kids about adapting fairytales and fables. Such a clever take on a classic!
The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach: A mischievous story with a surprise ending that will delight readers young and old.
Thank you so much for introducing us to some of your favorite picture book bears Laura. We also love Corduroy and think that Goldilocks and Just The One Bear is really funny. We’ll look out for the other stories which are new to us.
You can win a signed copy of Delivery Bear in our Twitter giveaway. The giveaway is open to readers with US addresses and a winner will be picked by computer on September 19th.
About Laura Gehl
Laura Gehl is the author of picture books with humor and heart, including ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR, the PEEP AND EGG series, MY PILLOW KEEPS MOVING, and I GOT A CHICKEN FOR MY BIRTHDAY. Her newest book, DELIVERY BEAR, features a bear named Zogby whose dream is to deliver cookies for the Fluffy Tail Cookies Company. Future releases include DIBS! (Lerner), EXCEPT WHEN THEY DON’T (Little Bee), JUNIPER KAI: SUPER SPY (Two Lions), and the BABY SCIENTIST series (HarperCollins). Laura lives in Chevy Chase, MD with her husband, four kids, and large stash of dark chocolate. So far, she hasn’t had a bear turn up on her doorstep with a box of delicious cookies…but she hasn’t given up hope!
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