#145 of 1001 · December 23, 2020

Here is an startlingly raw work that probes the human capacity for apathy and injustice: Libby Gleeson and Armin Greder’s The Great Bear. The animal of the title lives her life under the yoke of the circus, being made to dance for the entertainment of the masses who come to gawk at her in captivity. One day, she can take their jeering and prodding no longer. In a powerful extended sequence of wordless pages, she breaks free, walks past the terrified onlookers, climbs a pole, and somehow, magically, escapes into the sky. Is this ending real or imaginary? Does the bear truly ascend to the heavens, or are we presented with an externalization of her longing for freedom? It is up to the reader to decide. Notably, Gleeson and Greder collaborated on the structure and format of the story from the book’s inception, an unusual arrangement for an author and illustrator. Her short, unsentimental phrases and his gripping and expressive drawings come together to form a unique piece of art, at once an etiology for the constellation Ursa Major and a grim condemnation of animal cruelty throughout human history. #great #bear #ursamajor #constellation #constellations #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks