DONALD DUCK AND THE ONE BEAR

Donald Duck And The One Bear
Publisher: Western
Edition: Fifth (1981)
First pressing: 1978
Pages: 24

Yes, one more Golden Book to round out the first three posts. Subtitled "A Turn-About Tale," this is a reversal of the three bears story. And so we have a bear sampling food, seating, and beds in a stranger's house, not vice versa. The stranger is Donald Duck, who has gone to the trouble of making three fresh pizzas: a sausage one for his nephews, a pepperoni one for Daisy, and a pineapple and sardine one for himself. Donald and his nephews leave the pizzas to cool while they fetch Daisy, allowing a passing bear to encounter the delicious scent wafting out an open window.

And so the bear tries each pizza, finding the pepperoni too hot and the sausage too cold. But Donald's pie, whose toppings evoked such digust in his nephews, is perfect. Ditto his rocking chair and finally his bed. When Donald returns home with his nephews -- who always speak one after another -- and Daisy, he is shocked at the evidence of an intruder. In the book's oddest moment, and a knowing nod to the original story, Donald spots his overturned chair and shouts, "Somebody sat in my rocker and broke it to pieces." The chair isn't broken at all, as we see from the illustration, and Daisy and the nephews try to explain that it's just overturned, but Donald is "too angry to listen."

When the bear is found in Donald's bed, Donald is too frightened to confront it. Just then, a man comes to the door who turns out to be Charlie, owner of Charlie's Pizza. The bear is his pet and the shop's mascot of sorts: "Our slogan is 'When you're as hungry as a bear, eat Charlie's Pizza'." The bear's name is even Pizza, and lo and behold, sardines and pineapple are his favorite toppings. Charlie thanks Donald and company for finding his bear, leaving them with three large pizzas free of charge. But all three are decked out in sardines and pineapple, disappointing Daisy and the nephews but leading Donald to revise his stance on the intruder: "I liked that bear from the moment I saw him."

It's cute, then. The illustrations are in keeping with these well-known Disney characters, and the story's twist is quirky fun. (There is no author or illustrator credited, unfortunately.) It would work even if someone didn't get the reversal of a famous story, but of course it's hard to miss. And there's a nice bit of slapstick when Pizza sits down in the chair where Daisy has left her knitting and winds up with some needles in his backside. Again, cute.

I AM A BUNNY

I Am A Bunny
Author: Ole Risom
Illustrator: Richard Scarry
Publisher: Random House
Edition: 2004
First pressing: 1963
Pages: 22

Another great Golden Book, this one is a recognized classic. I picked it up as a gift for my wife, the title being a nod to our pet rabbit, Bunny. But of course, we have wound up showing this to Charlie quite often. It's a sturdy, glossy board book with tall, rectangular pages and lush, majestic illustrations by the great Richard Scarry. The story follows the titular bunny, Nicholas, through the change in seasons. In spring he picks flowers and chases butterflies ("And the butterflies chase me"). In summer he watches birds and frogs, blows dandelion seeds, and basks in the sun, although he hides from the rain under a toadstool (as seen on the book's cover). Autumn means falling leaves and animals preparing for winter, and winter means snow. The book ends with Nicolas curled up in the hollow tree he calls home, where he's free to hibernate and "dream about spring."

This is not just an easy way for children to get a grasp on the seasons but an extraordinary visual representation of them. The book unfolds in two-page spreads with minimal text, putting the emphasis squarely on Scarry's sublime vision of the natural world. A wide variety of plants and animals appear throughout, and there's a real calmness to the whole thing, as if we're peeking into a world untouched by man. My wife enjoys the wealth of things to count and name in the book, and especially loves the butterflies and squirrels.

There's not an ounce of criticism we have for this book. It's perfect, and it's definitely our mutual favorite as this early stage in Charlie's relationship with books.

SANTA'S SURPRISE BOOK

Santa's Surprise Book
Author: Joan Potter Elwart
Illustrator: Florence Sarah Winship
Publisher: Western
Edition: Sixth (1976)
First pressing: 1966
Pages: 24

Given the time of year, how better to kick off this blog than with a seasonal offering? Santa's Surprise Book is a Little Golden Book told in a series of simple rhymes, beginning with "One night before Christmas old Santa sat rocking, / Wondering what he could stuff in each stocking." The premise established, Santa soon gets an idea for a brand new stocking stuffer. ("He had always left candy and nuts, it's true.") In a mad bout of creativity, Santa goes to work in his shop, revealing the fruits of his labor to his elves the following night. In true meta fashion, what he's been working on is the very book we're reading. He even magically jumps into the book at the end "to spend Christmas with you."

The self-reflexive ending is similar to that of The Monster at the End of the Book, a classic that emerged five years later. But the real beauty of this book is its simplicity. The narrative is compact and nicely guided by the rhyming, and the depictions of Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves are timeless and affectionate. (The only innovation, to my knowledge, is the addition of a black-and-white cat at Santa's side.) Florence Sarah Winshop's full-color illustrations are warm and bright, with splashy embellishments capturing the magic at Santa's fingertips.

This is a gorgeous, old-school treat that holds up. Every kid deserves a copy.