Horrible Bear!

With wit and tenderness, Dyckman and OHora, the duo behind 2015’s Wolfie the Bunny, introduce two creatures who are absolutely furious with each other. A bear inadvertently crushes a kite that belongs to a girl with a mop of red hair. “Horrible bear!” she shouts, and stomps home. Angry at the girl’s unfair condemnation (“She barged in!”) Bear hatches a plan to get back at her: “It was a Horrible Bear idea.” True to the way people process feelings at different speeds, Horrible Bear arrives at the girl’s house just as she accidentally damages a toy and realizes that the bear’s misdeed was an accident, too. “I’m sorry!” she tells him, “And all the horrible went right out of Bear.” OHora works his goofy magic everywhere, observing the way anger causes ridiculous mishaps (the bear stomps through the girl’s laundry and arrives festooned with clothespins) and affects innocent bystanders (a puzzled, picnicking goat). Dyckman and OHora portray genuine forgiveness without a hint of moralizing. Ages 3–6. [em]Author’s agent: Scott Treimel, Scott Treimel N.Y. Illustrator’s agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary Agency. (Apr.) [/em]