If You Meet a Bear
A quirky field guide on what to do if you encounter a bear in the forest that encourages to talk about the relationship between humans and animals. A must-read for every aspiring outdoor adventurer!
Are you prepared for a bear encounter? This amusing picture book attempts to offer advice about what to do and not do if you come upon a bear while venturing into the forest. Should one run away, climb high or maybe just offer your honey jar to the bear as soon as possible? Several facts to remember about this furry creature.
Many of us have attended scout camp, wondered in the berry forest or been on an excursion and fear of bumping into a bear. In this book filled with offbeat humor, authors Malin Kivelä and Martin Glaz Serup advise a child who actually encounters one. When faced with such a challenge, good advice is precious. This laugh-out-loud, how-to guide is brought to life by awarded illustrator Linda Bondestam’s expressive artwork that captures the contrast between the dangers of the dark forest and exuberant storytelling.
Published in In Swedish by Förlaget M, in Danish by Jensen & Dalgaard and in Finnish by Teos.
info
Year of publication
2021
Original title
Om du möter en björn
Page count
40
Original publisher
Förlaget M
Original language of publication
Swedish, Danish
Rights sold
ItalyNetherlandsFinland
Reviews
Göteborgs-Posten
”This picture book is ingenious and fantastic, and unlike anything else.”
Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper
“The result of successful Nordic children’s book collaboration. Danish Martin Glaz Serup and Finnish-Swedish Malin Kivelä and Linda Bondestam are simply a dream team with the will and ability to take children’s literature to the utmost playful seriousness.”
Österbottens Tidning newspaper
“The book is educational without pointers, facts are presented fun and factually without beautifying paraphrases and the illustrations are simply incomparable.”
Borås Tigning
“The love of nature bursts in the book, despite the threat that is its topic.”
August prize jury 2021
"With an exquisite rhythm in the pictures, a wicked humoristic warning story about a child walking out into the wilderness and colliding with a bear, is presented. The meeting with the wild takes place through the informative lens of a factbook, ingeniously undermined by plays of features, fast-paced situations of danger and changes in tempo.
The proportions are monumental when the bear roars and the forest is drawn out. If you meet a bear takes the most out of the full potential of the picture book format. Malin Kivelä and Martin Glaz Serup text alongside Linda Bodestams illustrations skillfully challenges our view of the wild and of ourselves."Katrine Colmorn- Litteratursiden.dk
"Exciting picture book positively surprises with its different
combination of fun, horror, and facts."Finlandia Junior Prize jury 2021
“Each spread of this skillfully illustrated and narrated book is an independent experience. The playfulness and excitement of the text as well as the varying size of the images add dynamics to the work. The illustrations work alongside the inventive text, but they also bring something new to the story. Although the book guides a child in the encounter with nature, the story does not need any external motives, it is enough as such.”
Runeberg Junior Prize jury 2022
“If You Meet a Bear (Om du möter en björn) written by Malin Kivelä, Martin Glaz Serup and illustrated by Linda Bondestam is a humorous, playful, and educational picture book that suits both the young and the old. The book’s tips on what to do if you meet a bear during a forest trip, combined with fast-paced and surprising illustrations, keeps the reader inspired from page to page.”
Gunilla Brodrej - Expressen Newspaper
"The August-nominated "If You Meet a Bear" by Malin Kivelä, Martin Glaz Serup and Linda Bondestam has that special something. There is something about the tone, the smiling and the simultaneous warning."
Awards & Nominations
Nominations
August prize
2021
Finlandia Junior Prize
2021
Runeberg Junior Prize
2022
Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize
2022
Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi
2023
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