Nikolai The Only Bear written by Barbara Joosse and published by Philomel
Play nice
Nikolai wonders if anyone who visits will ever choose him, but when a fur-faced man suddenly appears with his wife, Nikolai is thrilled and knows in his heart that the perfect family has finally arrived to take him home.
School Library Journal
Nikolai, the sole bear in a Russian orphanage, doesn't fit in. Because he growls rather than talks and doesn't always "play nice," he has remained in the institution for three years. An American couple, in search of a youngster to love, visits the children's home and becomes acquainted with the cub. The bearded man has the ability to communicate in Bearspeak, while his wife makes Nikolai feel "soft-bearish" inside. All ends happily when the three leave Russia to become a family in the States. Pale tan, brown, and green dominate the soft-hued paintings, and the adults and children are all short with round heads and triangular noses. Read this well-written, attractively laid out bookalong with Eliza Thomas's The Red Blanket (Scholastic, 2004) for tales of cross-cultural adoptions.–Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
First!
As Renata’s first picture book Nikolai can’t help but have a special spot in her heart. When she first began drawing this book she had mostly been drawing people and she had to do a lot of practice and research to bring the character of Nikolai to life.
