bilbopooh's Full Review: David McPhail - The Teddy Bear
When I was little, I lost one of my favorite stuffed animals, a little gray seal, on a trip. I wanted him to have a good view of the scenery, so I dangled him out the window as we drove along the highway, and he flew out of my grasp. By the time I said something about it, finding him was out of the realm of possibility. I'd like to think that maybe somebody else found him, but given the circumstances, I doubt that's too likely.
In David McPhail's The Teddy Bear, a little boy is distraught when he loses his teddy bear on a dinner out with his parents. He goes back to the restaurant where he last saw him, but the bear is gone. Where did the cuddly toy go? Into the garbage, of all places, left to huddle cold and afraid much like the Velveteen rabbit toward the end of Margery Williams' classic story. But the bear is not alone for long. He finds rescue, at the hands of not the boy but a bearded stranger who seems perfectly delighted with his discovery.
McPhail's story follows two separate storylines: that of the boy and that of the bear. By the time they converge once more, life has changed considerably for them both. Gradually, the boy has found new toys with which to amuse himself. Gradually, the bear has gotten used to traveling through the town in the coat pocket or under the arm of a lonely homeless man. When chance brings the old friends together again, how will they react?
The illustrations in the book are soft and moody, with the illustrations of the bear and the homeless man especially poignant. In the beginning of his acquisition by the man, he is described as a "sad little teddy bear," and he looks forlorn just peeking out of the pocket of an enormous green coat, but somehow, without any fundamental difference in the bear himself, he seems contented in a later picture in which the man cuddles him close while reading the newspaper.
This is a story that powerfully demonstrates the joy of giving and of seeing the beauty in all people. The homeless man is a grungy-looking fellow; his beard is long and unkempt, his clothes are dirty, he rummages through trash cans looking for treasures. When the boy's parents see him, they rush away to avoid an encounter with him. But the boy turns back, paving the way for a magic moment.
Inspired by a real-life experience that had a powerful impact on McPhail, The Teddy Bear is artful and altruistic, a summertime companion to Kate DiCamillo's exquisite Christmas tale, Great Joy. Read both and be moved.
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