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Pete and Gabby: The Bears Go to Town

Pete and Gabby: The Bears Go to Town
Written by Kay Winters
Illustrated by Katherine Kirkland
Albert Whitman, 2012.  60 pages. Easy reader.

Pete and Gabby are two curious, forest-dwelling bears who are sad to see the humans leave at the end of the camping season. The two rascally bears wander out of the woods and into town to pay their humans a visit. They end up causing chaos at the ice cream shop, post office, and fire department. They wonder why the humans are yelling and pointing and not at all happy to see them! The story is good innocent fun, and the illustrations are classic. (There is a bit of disruption to the classic feeling, as the kids are all taking pictures of the bears with their cell phones, but this is just a minor blip.) The length is good for children who are not quite ready to read intermediate chapter books.

Comments

lw said…
I especially enjoyed your use of the word "rascally" to describe these mischievous bears.

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