Synopsis
The engaging sister-and-brother duo from the highly acclaimed Stella & Roy are back for a second outing that will delight young readers. This time Stella and Roy are camping with their mother, and Roy really hopes to see a bear. Every time he thinks he sees bear tracks, new reader Stella is pleased to say, "Wrong, Roy," and to look in her book of animal tracks for ones that match the prints. There are coyote tracks and marmot tracks and raccoon tracks and lots of other animal tracks-but, to Roy's chagrin, no bear tracks.
At night, however, things change. Lying awake in his sleeping bag, Roy hears a clunking, rolling sound. Could it be the black plastic bear barrel, into which all leftovers have been tightly shut? Who or what is out there?
Ashley Wolff's high-spirited story gives equal weight to the pleasures of reading that Stella has recently discovered and to the rewards of persistence that younger brother Roy enjoys. Wolff's distinctive hand-tinted linocuts beautifully render the splendors of an outdoor hike, as well as the spookiness of a shadowed night. Readers will enjoy identifying tracks along with Stella and Roy, and they will thrill with Roy when he glimpses the nighttime visitor.
Children's Literature
Stella, with her book of animal tracks, and Roy, with his flashlight, set off on a camping trip with their mother who is carrying "everything else." So begins this delightful picture book camping trip and natural history lesson. Readers not only get to vicariously spend a warm summer day and night in the woods, they also get lessons about camping, animal tracks, and bear safety. The large illustrations are vaguely old-fashioned which is a perfect fit for the pace and tone of the book which takes readers away from the rat race and into the cool, calm, peace of nature. This is another satisfying picture book from the illustrator of the hugely popular, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.