At the Hotel Larry

Before the two Bad Bears, there was Larry, a polar bear who found his calling as a lifeguard in Bayonne, New Jersey. In this second hilarious book devoted to his adventures, our ursine hero is ensconced at the Hotel Larry, named in his honor by the millionaire whose life he saved in Young Larry. Now working at the hotel pool, where the guests have a tendency NOT to swim, Larry is reunited with his brother Roy, one of the polar bears at the Bayonne Zoo...

Narrated by young Mildred Frobisher, At the Hotel Larry has a few of those moments of pure Pinkwater genius, as when Larry informs his young friend: I am a wild polar bear myself....There is no other kind". Luckily, this wild polar bear has a taste for muffins, not people... With Daniel show more Pinkwater's quirky narrative and Jill Pinkwater's humorous illustrations, this entry in the series of picture books about Larry is a delight! There is even a hint of Irving and Muktuk in "Bear Number One" and "Bear Number Three." show less

No plot, just another entry in the [b:Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears|893753|Irving and Muktuk Two Bad Bears|Daniel Manus Pinkwater|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223426154s/893753.jpg|1739570] collection (though those two do not make an appearance here). Charming, funny, but the only thing that stood out, to me, was when Larry sprawled on the parlor floor in imitation of a bearskin rug, and our narrator sat comfy and safe right on him. This bit was not in the text - proving once again that picture-books are usually pretty much nothing without pictures!

At the Hotel Larry is about a polar bear who saved the little girl narrator's father's life. He told Larry that he would give him anything he wanted as a reward. Larry said that he wanted to live in a hotel with a swimming pool. The father granted him his wish and made the hotel and named it Hotel Larry. He made the pool extra cold for larry. The little girl and Larry were best friends. They did everything together and one day they went to the zoo. Larry ran into his brother Roy. Larry and Roy were back to being best friend brothers and Larry invited Roy and all his polar bear friends back to the hotel. They all had so much fun together and went swimming together.

Huh. I guess the Larry books came before the Irving and Muktuk books, as those two are not named here. Nor are there any muffins. Nor is this anywhere near as creative as [b:Bongo Larry|63344|Bongo Larry|Daniel Pinkwater|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387704083s/63344.jpg|61518]. The more I think about it, the more I think something is terribly missing from this, hence the low rating.

If you read and enjoyed Young Larry as much as I did, then this book is worth the read for all the same reasons as the first.