In this imaginative compilation, noted Toronto illustrator Vlasta van Kampen presents bear stories from three different cultures – Czech, North American native, and Russian. In each of the short, fable-like tales, Bear is an endearingly childish character who is easily tricked or confused. In the Czech tale, Bear and Pig purchase and eat each other’s baked goods at the market and are puzzled as to why they haven’t made any money. In the native tale, the other animals manage to trick Bear into falling asleep so they can return the moon to the sky. In the Russian story, two bear brothers, Ivan and Igor, are so determinedly lazy that they miss a big picnic.

Van Kampen gives each story a cheerful, positive ending, though a didactic element creeps into the Russian tale.The endings of the Czech and Russian stories work well, but the native tale seems to need another sentence or two of explanation, to say that the changing phases of the moon will partly satisfy both the light-loving animals and the sleepy, hibernating bear. Bear’s basic shape doesn’t change from story to story, but the Russian bears wear overalls, and the native bear is presented in a natural rather than humanized environment (though he does have a lantern and a quilt!).

Van Kampen’s illustrations are delightful, with intense, rich colours and stylized but expressive animal forms. Lyrical vignettes against a deep-blue night sky in the native story contrast with the comically messy household of the two lazy bears.