Miskatonic University PressA Fall Day for Bear, illustrated by my mother Kady MacDonald Denton and written by Bonny Becker, is now out!
So far it’s had a good review in Kirkus Reviews (“Denton’s greatly entertaining art shows Bear enduring a spectacular tumble into the mud”) and a starred review in Booklist (“Denton’s wonderfully expressive artwork, created with ink, watercolor, and gouache, captures the characters’ emotions as well as the humor of the narrative, the beauty of the season, and the double meaning of fall”).
I remember reading the manuscript for the first Bear and Mouse book, A Visitor for Bear (2008), and thinking it was perfect. It was immediately clear Bonny Becker had written a classic. I felt the same reading each subsequent one, but Fall Day has a sadness and a poignancy that make it especially good, particularly for grown-up readers who have perhaps wondered what will happen when Bear outlives Mouse. This book is not about that, but it is about seasons changing and leaves falling and time passing.
“I don’t like it when things go away,” Mouse said quietly.
It’s also about pickles and about friends. It’s great.