Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend

Starred review from December 9, 2024
A battle of wills unfolds when a teal-colored turtle encounters a green turtle, sporting an oversize yellow bear suit, who coolly declares itself a “for-real bear.” Shea (Oh, Are You Awake?), working in a naif style that gives this two-handed story a raw, comedic immediacy, portrays the teal turtle responding quickly with an outlandish assertion of its own: “I’m a for-real bear expert, and you are NOT a for-real bear.” When arguing gets them nowhere (especially when the “bear” insists it hibernates “like five times a day”), the
teal turtle takes a different tack. The “expert” declares that bears also love ice cream, riding bikes, and—displaying an impish delight that’s certain to tickle
readers—playing “PUMPKIN KING! BENEVOLENT SMASHER OF PUMPKINS!” When Bearsuit Turtle suggests extending the marvelous day with a swim (“For-real bear fur gets kinda hot”), the sense of trust and friendship that’s grown between them prompts a mutual confession: neither is what they claimed to be. But that’s okay, because they also agree that being their real selves—two happy, water-loving turtles—is equally wonderful. Bear facts conclude. Ages 4–8.

Starred review from February 1, 2025
Preschool-Grade 3 *Starred Review* When a turtle wearing a bear costume meets another turtle at the park, they strike up a conversation. The second turtle, who claims to be "a for-real bear expert," doubts his new acquaintance's claim that he's a bear. To justify himself, Bearsuit Turtle demonstrates his remarkable ability to do whatever bears do. When the expert challenges Bearsuit Turtle to climb a tree, the latter demonstrates that he can (if the expert covers his eyes) while describing the experience: "Climb, climb, climb. This tree sure is tall." To improve his credibility, he brags that he hibernates "like five times a day!" The bickering ends when the two creative turtles share some ursine fun, such as swimming and smashing pumpkins. The turtles make an amusing twosome in this battle of wits and bravado, which winds down as they become friends. While Shea's humor is very much on a child's wavelength, adults reading the book aloud will also enjoy the two characters' conversations. Fresh, expressive, and wildly colorful, the digital illustrations provide the most realistic view of events, making it clear that, for example, Bearsuit Turtle is standing on the ground while voicing his first-person account of climbing up a tree. A somewhat wacky and completely enjoyable picture book.

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February 15, 2025
Two turtles form a unique bond over a shared special interest. As the title humorously suggests, this picture book features a turtle in a bear costume. The suit is yellow and rotund, not unlike the form of a certain fabled bear with a particular taste for honey. The turtle cuts a comical figure--a little green ovoid face inhabiting the suit's mouth, right about where a tongue should be. The suit's hollow black interior frames a dramatic range of facial emotions. Bearsuit Turtle soon encounters a regular turtle who's unconvinced that our hero is in fact a bear. So Bearsuit Turtle attempts to prove it as the other turtle lists skills that all bears have: climbing trees (the protagonist clambers up before quickly crashing to the ground), hibernating (a feat our hero manages for approximately two seconds), and foraging for food (in this case, ice cream--every bear's favorite!). The turtles' back-and-forth approaches increasingly absurd heights until our hero finally drops the charade--and the bear outfit. Shea employs his signature style, with characters rendered from simple shapes and a few rough-hewn lines communicating facial expressions perfectly. The pals amble through a brightly colored woodland speckled with pointy trees, blobby clouds, and the occasional tweety bird. The text is ideal for reading aloud and laughing along with, while the visual gag builds into a sweet relationship. An amiable romp, funny to look at and fun to read.(Picture book. 3-7)

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