Title: Sleep Tight, My Angel Bear
Author: Eileen Rascon
Publisher: Fulton Books
ISBN: 979-8-89221-778-1
Pages: 21
Gener: Illustrated Children’s Book
Review: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
Author Eileen Rascon has created a short but touching children’s story titled, Sleep Tight, My Angel Bear, where we begin with a little girl looking out her window and noticing a baby bear looking in from the forest at her. She doesn’t quite know what to do, but the eyes of the bear are saying that it lost its mother bear in a forest fire – and feels as if the mother’s spirit has led her to seek help on the farm of this little girl. Coincidentally the little girl also has the same feeling but does not know how to care for a wild bear. So, the little girl brings the bear into the barn, prepares a bed of hay, and allows the bear to hibernate within the safety of the barn. Once spring arrives, the bear wakes up, stretches and yawns, and is healthy as it has grown quite a bit during its hibernation. The story ends with a touching illustration of the little girl and the bear hugging in friendship.
The text of this adorable story has a foot and rhyme bringing out the author’s soft and gentle storytelling qualities while embracing the Lord and having spiritual appreciation. The illustrations accompany the galley text perfectly, carrying forth into the children’s mind a storyboard of events resulting in a fun yet calming adventure. The overall impact is finely tuned text cleverly written with a trove of pictures to have a non-verbal message to highlight the storyline. The “angel” in the title is clearly the connection between the bear’s deceased mother and her continued caring for her baby bear.
Bears are always cute and cuddly and make a wonderful animal to personify in children’s stories – however seeing a bear in the wild is something which needs to be handled with extreme caution. I certainly hope that children are also taught the proper cautions and to only hug a bear in a fantasy storybook. Perfect for young readers and parents to share together, it’s a book that brings peace to bedtime routines.
