No Bears

No Bears by Meg McKinlay and Illustrated by Leila Rudge was published in 2011 and shortlisted for the Early Childhood and Picture Book of the Year categories of the 2012 CBCA awards.

‘Ruby is in charge of this book. And she’ll tell you something right now. There are NO BEARS in it. Not even one.’ However despite Ruby’s determination to banish all bears from her story, one bear still manages to find himself into the book, hiding around the edges of the illustration and taking a star role.

This humorous picture book is a multilayered text with illustrations that children will read over and over as it connects to the well known fairytale references throughout. The skilful fairytale conventions contain a range of allusions to well known fairytale characters, settings and events. The picture book generates it humour through revisionist and alternative fairytales and intertexuality (borrowing parts from other narratives). Some of these narrative structures have been discussed in this course’s workshops and readings.

Themes that are addressed in this picture book include fairytales, truth and stereotypes, these themes are well developed but young children may not grasp these as they are quite deep and meaningful.  The underlying messages of doing your best, understanding tolerance and inclusion and respect are the focal points of the book and can be explored in the classroom for all ages. This book can definitely be used in the classroom for all age groups and can be integrated with other curriculum areas such as English, art and science.