Editor’s Note: We’re delighted to feature two book reviews sent to us by 4th graders at Manitou Park Elementary in Tacoma. If you’d like to write a book review for COLUMBIAKids, simply print our NW BookSwap list, pick a book you’d like to read, and when you’re done, send us your review. Keep your review short and sweet, and don't be afraid to ask the author a question or two! Author responses follow each review.

A VISITOR FOR BEAR
by Bonny Becker
Candlewick Press, 2008
56 pgs, $16.95 (hardcover)

Reviews by Nicholas Hardesty and Amy Nguyen, Manitou Park Elementary.

Nicholas Hardesty:

I read a great new book titled A Visitor For Bear by Bonny Becker. I liked the book because Mouse was trying to help Bear enjoy having a visitor. Mouse kept sneaking into Bear’s house to make friends even though he saw the sign that said “No visitors allowed.” I also liked the book because it seems like a repeating process. I thought it was funny how Mouse snuck into Bear’s house and Bear said almost the same thing every time. Bear opened the cupboard door and “there was Mouse! Small and gray and bright-eyed.” I would recommend this book because it is a good story about someone learning to like visitors and making his first friend.

There are two questions I would like to ask the author:

How did you get the idea of Mouse sneaking into Bear’s house over and over again?

Bonny Becker:

Just like Mouse keeps popping up in Bear’s house, the idea for a mouse who wouldn’t go away just popped into my head one day. I thought it would be funny if Mouse kept coming back no matter what Bear did. So once I knew that, it was a matter of figuring out how Bear would try to keep him out and how Bear would react.

How did you get the idea to start changing Bear from wanting Mouse out, to wanting him in?

Bonny Becker:

Even though Bear is a grouch, I knew it was because he was secretly lonely. He wanted a friend; he just didn't know it. Once he had a chance to have someone who was interested in him and laughed at his jokes, well, I knew that Bear would want more!

Amy Nguyen:

When Bear keeps trying to get the mouse out of the house, he always says, “There was the mouse. Small and gray and bright eyed.” I think this saying represents the main theme. I like the part when Bear gets mad because he sees the mouse in the refrigerator and he gives a cry, BEGONE!” But in the end, the mouse and the bear have tea by the fire and Bear tears down the NO VISITORS ALLOWED! sign. I will recommend this book to others because it is a funny story.

Questions for the author:

Was it fun writing this story?

Bonny Becker:

Yes! I think I had more fun with this story than any of my others. I knew that, at first, Mouse would drive Bear crazy, so it was fun to imagine what Bear would say and how Mouse would act all sorry and then pop up again. I also enjoyed figuring out how they would both talk. I enjoyed using words like "insufferable" and "I am undone."

How long did it take to write this story?

Bonny Becker:

The basic outline of the story took maybe ten hours of writing. But then comes the hard part- -eliminating things you don't need, figuring out parts of the story that you hadn't really taken care of (like how Mouse gets Bear to like him), taking words out, putting words back in again as you try to find just the right word...that part took about two years of working off and on. That's not unusual even for a short picture book.

There are four more Mouse and Bear books in the works. This fall, "A Birthday for Bear" comes out. In 2010, will be "A Bedtime for Bear." Then "A Christmas for Bear" and a new story I'm just starting to work on.