P.B. Bear's Birthday Party (Pajama Bedtime P.B. Bear) - Hardcover

Ages 3-6. P. (Pajama) B. (Bed) Bear, named after his favorite clothes and time of day, wakes up on his birthday with expectant eagerness. The mailman delivers one large package, two small ones, and three letters. The teddy's canine friend Dermott comes to help with the cake baking before P. B. Bear's other friends arrive. When P. B. Bear opens the large package, he finds a train, which the menagerie assembles. Jumping aboard, they travel to the country for a birthday picnic complete with balloons, games, presents, lunch, and cake. After the celebration, the group returns home, and P. B. Bear falls into bed. Written in rebus style with exquisitely sharp color photos used both in the rebus text and as illustrations, this birthday fantasy will enchant the youngest picture book crowd as well as beginning readers. The photos reflect a clever combination of actual household items and stuffed-animal characters. A small brown bear is hidden on each double-page spread for readers to find. The bright colors against the stark white backgrounds, the simple story, and the lovely endpapers, which display the rebus vocabulary neatly labeled, make this a handsome package. Like birthday wishes, think in terms of multiples. Deborah Abbott

The publisher's trademark, impeccably reproduced photography (here credited to Dave King, with additional work by Paul Bricknell and Alex Wilson) is the key to this sprightly book's success. Presented in rebus form, Davis's tale of a stuffed bear's birthday party features small photos of individual items as well as larger, crystal-clear, imaginatively composed shots so crisp that they have almost a pop-up effect. After the mailman brings P.B. Bear (a sleep-loving fellow whose initials stand for "pajamas" and "bed") several packages and cards, his stuffed-animal friends arrive for the celebration--each carrying a festively wrapped gift. In the largest package, the birthday bear finds a train, which carries the pals on a circular journey (easily traced by little fingers) to a picnic site. Along the way, youngsters are challenged to count various items and to find the tiny teddy that is hidden on each spread. Even the endpapers of this oversize, paper-over-board volume offer diversion: here, each of the photos used in the rebus are repeated and labeled, enabling beginning readers to show off their skills. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.