Otto the Book Bear is a tale of a bear from a book who gets left behind in a house move, after wondering around the city he finds confort & friends at the public library.

I was excited to buy this after having read a great review (Library Mice) & a little about it’s creation on the authors site, after such investment I had high hopes and I wasn’t disappointed. The simple illustration with muted colours provide a gentle background to the heartwarming tale. I have to confess after reading the Box of Tricks I was expecting a similar style of illustration & my favourite page is the bear looking out of the window in the rain. Bryn liked the page when the bear sees the light in the library, the point where the bear senses some hope is a welcome contrast to the busy city.

Otto the Book Bear

Seeing the characters out of the book playing is such a lovely idea, reminding me of a fun activity over on blog ‘Playing by the Book’. I think we invest a lot in the characters within the stories so the idea of them popping out is charming, much like the idea of toys coming to life when not being played with. I also loved the idea of the characters from the books reading other stories, I wonder if they were ever tempted to swap places.

The love of books & stories shines throughout this book. I imagine it will become a firm favourite in this house.

Bryn's bear on an outing while Bryn slept

All illustrations  © Katie Cleminson