Bear Wants to Sing

Bear wants to sing his song, but the other animals won't give him a chance to perform his masterwork in this delightful picture book companion to the critically acclaimed King Mouse.

A bear finds a ukulele in the woods. It makes a nice sound -- PLINK! -- and inspires him to write his own song. His friend Mouse would love to hear it. But Bear isn't the only animal in the forest to find musical inspiration that day, and Snake, Crow and Tortoise keep taking his turn to perform. When they finally give him the opportunity and meet his song with less enthusiasm than he'd like, the discouraged bear shelves his music career forever . . . but the kindness, empathy and appreciation of his best friend will prove that his art deserves recognition and can even inspire others.

This dryly humorous and sweetly profound collaboration between two critically acclaimed children's book creators, a follow-up to the masterful King Mouse, has the makings of a modern classic.

CARY FAGAN's numerous kids' books include The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster, the Kaspar Snit novels, the Wolfie & Fly chapter books, Mort Ziff Is Not Dead and the picture books King Mouse, What Are You Doing, Benny? and Little Blue Chair. He won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People for his body of work, and his books have received many other honors. Cary is also the author of six novels and three story collections for adults. He was born and raised in Toronto, where he continues to live with his family.

DENA SEIFERLING graduated with a BFA and Visual Communications Degree from the Alberta College of Art and Design and works as an instructor at ACAD while pursuing her illustration and needle-felted art, which has been displayed at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. Her previous books include King Mouse and Alice and Gert: An Ant and Grasshopper Story, written by Helaine Becker, and her upcoming books include her debut writing effort Bumblebee and Night Lunch, written by Eric Fan. Dena lives and works in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband and two children.