Old Bear - Hardcover

Jane Hissey's picture books have been loved by children around the world for over twenty-five years. Her first book, Old Bear, was proclaimed a new children's classic and since then Jane has gone on to write and illustrate over twenty more picture books. Alongside the books, Jane has also written a forty episode, model-animation television series of "Old Bear Stories" which has won many international awards including a Bafta and a New York Film Festival Gold award. Jane has three grown-up children, Owen, Alison, and Ralph, and lives in East Sussex with her husband, Ivan, who is also an illustrator. The author lives in East Sussex, England.

Teddy bear Bramwell Brown and his companions Duck, Rabbit, and Little Bear miss their friend Old Bear, who has been put away in the attic because the children were too rough with him. The toys attempt to retrieve him and finally succeed by flying Little Bear to the attic door, where he pushes his way inside and helps Old Bear parachute safely to the nursery floor. First published in 1986, Hissey’s classic returns in this special collector’s edition containing added material about the author-illustrator and her process, the real toy that inspired the Old Bear series, a gallery of translated editions, and the television series based on these books. Printed on high-quality matte stock that does justice to Hissey’s elegant, photo-realistic colored-pencil illustrations, this volume is a work of art. The story is simply and succinctly told, and the toys are both clever and cooperative, making this a book that will appeal to both parents and children. Libraries with well-worn original copies would do well to update with this edition. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Kay Weisman