It’s raining again! What can a little bear do, when his friend is busy writing, and it’s just too wet outside? Nova Scotia writer Maureen Hull’s Bear gets bored, just like a little child who’s been cooped up too long, and the adult at hand, the Writer, isn’t much help – or is he? When Bear suggests taking a trip, the preoccupied Writer says, “Go in your imagination.” Bear takes that advice, many times, with splendid results. He goes to Trinidad to play steel drums (on the kitchen pots and pans), to Spain (in the basement) to practise flamenco dancing, and to the Swiss Alps to play an alpine horn made of paper towel rolls stuck together. Eventually, however, the rain is just too much for him and he stays in bed all day. Despite all the noise created by Bear’s imaginary trips, the Writer eventually finishes his book, so they go out to post it and then book a real trip to somewhere exciting. Where the two friends actually choose to go for their holiday ends the story with a delightful twist.

Leanne Franson creates a very expressive teddy bear, by turns disconsolate, enthusiastic, and pestiferous. Dark washes of colour suggest the gloom of too many rainy days, relieved by the vivid colours of the imaginary journeys. While Bear’s face tells us just how he is feeling, we see the Writer only in parts – his bushy hair or pot belly – or from the back. His absorption in his desk work creates an amusing visual counterpoint to Bear’s energy and impatience – one that every parent and small child can identify with.