FEATURED BOOK | "Little Old Bear"

In honor of Hilda van Stockum's birthday (she would be 109 on February 8 this year – she died 11 years ago) Boissevain Books is featuring LITTLE OLD BEAR.

Here is a review of the book by Alex Baugh on the Randomly Reading site.

Here's another review posted by Judy Polhemus:

Sometimes toys have wishes. The Velveteen Rabbit wanted to be real, and soon enough, he was. Little Old Bear just wants to be wanted. And so it comes to pass.

The lovely pen and ink drawings of Little Old Bear render him worn out yet reminiscent of better days. (Hilda van Stockun both wrote and illustrated the story.) He knew the same cycle of love that the Velveteen Rabbit knew. He was loved until the child was grown, then set aside. At least, Little Old Bear finds himself in the attic, where....the lady of the house comes to clean and throws out the bear! Birds reject him, a kitty rejects him, and little boys find him and toss him around like a ball, then throw him in someone's backyard. A little girl claims hims, then rejects him, and throws him back onto the sidewalk, where a kind old lady discovers him and takes him home.

The old lady gives him back his eyes and sits him in the front window where he watches the world pass by. He sees little boys and girls play with their nice new stuffed bears and feels lucky just an old lady found him. [And then a wonderful thing happens to him...]