about the book
It all starts when Jean Louis, host of the Our Furry Planet children’s TV program, forgets one of the primary rules of dealing with wild animals—don’t poke them.
Jean finds a couple of hibernating bears in their cave, pokes one, wakes it up, and flees in terror. The bears rise from their slumber and, seeing the Our Furry Planet truck outside, decide to hitch a ride, sitting on top of the truck, arms out like they’re riding a rollercoaster! Thus begins the bears’ playful romp through town!
Arriving in town with the TV van, the bears cause a panic in the streets. Of course, the bears do not know what panic is, and mistake the humans’ terror for friendliness!
Hungry, the bears enter a diner. Two kids see them and become so terrified that they abandon their toy vehicles, which the bears gladly take for a spin. Our Furry Planet and the “Skycam 3” provide footage of the mayhem. Then they play dress up at a nearby department store.
Seeing the footage, a couple of crooks and their cat decide to take advantage of the confusion and rob a bank. The bank is right next to the department store. The bears, coming out at the sound of an ice cream truck, become accidental heroes!
about the author
Growing up in Taylor, Pennsylvania, David Biedrzycki (pronounced beh-drick-key) had a very ordinary childhood. His father taught him trout fishing, while his older brother, Bob, taught him all about art. Actually Bob taught him a little too much about art, and David ended up in constant trouble for doodling on everything—class papers, tests, textbooks, and even desks!
After studying at the Kitztown State University, David started doing freelance work for newspapers, magazines, advertising agencies, design firms, software companies, and corporate clients like Celestial Seasonings and IBM.
Getting into illustrating for children’s book publishers is usually difficult, but it was surprisingly easy for David. An author approached HIM to illustrate a new book! He loved working with children’s stories and was soon writing and illustrating his own books.
David lives in Medfield, Massachusetts, with his wife and three children. He works in a tiny corner room on the first floor of their house. His office, with one wall covered with ideas, is very messy and stuffed with three computers. He does all his drawing and writing digitally.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Writing On The Sidewalk
Also by David Biedrzycki:
Christmas Spirit (Me and My Dragon). Charlesbridge. October 2015.
Scared of Halloween (Me and My Dragon). Charlesbridge. 2013.
Santa Retires. Charlesbridge. 2012.
Me and My Dragon. Charlesbridge. 2011.
Santa’s New Jet. Charlesbridge. 2011.
Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective : The Big Swat. Charlesbridge. 2010.
Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective : Bad Bugs Are My Business. Charlesbridge. 2009.
Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective. Charlesbridge. 2005.
read more!
Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective by David Biedrzycki
When Queenie Bee goes missing, there’s only one bug that can find her—Ace Lacewing! Along with his sidekick, Sergeant Zito the Mosquito, Ace combs Motham City for clues. It seems all of Motham’s worst criminals are suspects, including enemy number one, Al the Drone! Can Ace and Zito rescue Queenie before it’s too late?
More Bears! by Kenn Nesbitt
Once upon a time there was a bald old narrator telling a story with no bears at all in it. However, his listeners thought that this should change. There ought to be more bears in a bearless story! With every turn of the page, bears and bears and more bears show up, and soon the pages cannot contain them all!
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker
NO VISITORS ALLOWED. Bear points sternly to the sign on his door when a little mouse comes to visit. But the mouse keeps popping up in the house though Bear boards up the windows and stops up the chimney. Who will win—the bear or the mouse?