Marije Tolman

I picked up this little hardcover children's book totally at random and it charmed my socks off. It's the kind of hang-out stories I associate with Frog and Toad, or Frances the Badger, but the latter is particularly appropriate because both the love of wordplay (kudos to the translator for dealing pretty well with the puns and songs) and the feeling that potentially risky things are also fun to think about (the otherwise straight-laced little Dog uses booze to help him bark, and Wolf might show more decide to actually be dangerous at any moment) strongly recall the late great Russell Hoban. The narration and dialogue are extremely fun to read out loud, and Tolman's drawings are just a joy. show less

I haven't read a wordless picture book (at least that I can remember) and I was a little doubtful at first. I wasn't sure that a book without words would be capable of conveying a story and a message. However, I liked this book because the illustrations were fantastic, I love animals, and it leaves more up to the imagination.

This is a beautiful picture book with no text. This book allows the readers to create their own story just by looking a the pictures. It seems like the story is about a polar bear that finds a tree house and he invites different animals to come and enjoy the tree house as it is very big and looks a place where they can share stories and have fun with each other. One day all the animals had to go back home before winter comes so the only ones that stayed in the tree house were the polar bear show more and his friend grizzly bear. I think that I could use this book with students so that they use their own imagination to come up with their own stories. I got a little bit nostalgic with this book because even though the book does not have text, the images expresses how it feels after meeting with a lot of people you love and when they have to leave after having a good time together. show less

A polar bear rides across the ocean on a whale to a large tree house. He is later then joined by a brown bear where they then spend time together. As time passes by the water recedes, and new seasons come and pass. This wordless story uses various colors, and illustrations to portray the bear's adventure and how the environment changes before their eyes. This is one of my favorite books we read in class. The use of its illustrations and colors was beyond incredible because you use your own show more imagination to create the story. I love that there are no words because many types of children can connect to this. This book is very open-ended and I truly enjoyed the experience. I know that many children would love to get creative with this and come up with their own stories or just enjoy the pictures and focus on the development of their imagination. show less