Item Detail

In this delightful book, award-winning illustrator Kestutis Kasparavicius has captured the warmth and excitement of spending the holiday season visiting special friends and family. Everyone in the Bear family wants to go somewhere different to celebrate Christmas, but there's one plan they can all agree on -- to fly their house around the world by hot air balloon.

The Bear children get to see how pandas, koalas, polar bears, and other friends from different lands prepare for the holidays, and though they're far from home, they still get a visit from Santa Bear. This warm world tour is the happiest Christmas book ever!

Unable to decide on a single destination for the holidays, a family of bears attaches a balloon to their house and circles the globe. In the far north, they visit their cousins the polar bears; in Peru, their friends the spectacled bears; in Australia, the koalas, and so on. Lithuanian artist Kasparavicius's meticulously detailed watercolors play up the international settings with abundant wit, including a nonchalant emu doing duty as a Christmas tree, painted green and decked with ornaments for the holidays Down Under. Ages 4-8. (Dec.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

---

K-Gr 2-The Bear Family can't decide which of their friends and relations to visit over the holiday, so they decide to see all of them. Their house just happens to be attached to a huge hot-air balloon, which is a good thing because their travels take them from the Far North to Australia to China, Peru, and Sri Lanka. Finally, they reach their favorite aunt and uncle's house, where Santa Bear arrives with gifts. Kasparavicius's intricate and imaginative illustrations encourage a second and third look to see all the unusual details.-M. A. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.