#966 of 1001 · March 24, 2023

Eric A. Kimmel and Charles Mikolaycak present a delightful adaptation of an old tale in the aptly and pithily titled Bearhead. A man and a woman discover a baby abandoned in the forest. To their surprise, the child has the head of a bear. The woman therefore bestows on him the first name that comes into her mind—Bearhead—and they raise the child as their own son. Years later, the husband is summoned into the service of a local witch named Madame Hexaba. Bearhead goes in his father’s place. He proceeds to take the witch’s commands literally, clearing away her dinner table by throwing it out the window and guarding the door of her treasure house by ripping it off its hinges. Eventually, he receives a long overdue rent payment from the witch’s goblin tenant and makes his old parents rich. Kimmel’s narrative shines with understated humor, and Mikolaycak’s illustrations (created with watercolor and colored pencil) provide plenty of warm and engaging detail. A note for folklore enthusiasts: Kimmel’s source, as he mentions in the front matter, is “Ivanko the Bear’s Son”, a Russian folktale with variants and related narratives around the world. #bear #head #witch #goblin #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks