How to Talk Like a Bear

Charlie Grandy is an Emmy and Peabody Award winning television writer and producer known for his work on Saturday Night Live, The Office, and The Mindy Project. He lives in Los Angeles with his family.Alex Griffiths has been drawing pictures for as long as he can remember. In his childhood, he loved nothing more than surrounding himself with pens and paper, scribbling for hours to create sea monsters, flying creatures, monkeys and ghosts on the back of old cereal boxes. Thirty years later, not too much has changed.Now working as a children’s illustrator and graphic designer in Toronto, Alex combines pen and ink with watercolor and digital textures to create his illustrations. Alex’s debut author-illustrated picture book, The Bug Collector, was published in 2019 with Andersen Press.

"[How to Talk Like a Bear] will have readers giggling with delight as they roar at varying volumes—each roar resulting in snappy comebacks from the bear. It’s a book designed for reading aloud to large groups, and the illustrations support the text perfectly with reaction shots that will remain humorous even after several reads. . . while the story will shine brightest when read with groups, the ending makes it equally appropriate for an evening read before starting a pre-bedtime ritual. . . A laugh-out-loud take on the challenges of making ourselves understood."--Kirkus"Beyond the fun premise that allows kids to be in on the joke, the structure of the story encourages lively, back-and-forth interaction with a storytime crowd. Though the narrator suggests that talking like a bear will give young readers license to do what they want one hundred percent of the time (“GRRRR!!!” means “Um, I am not doing that, thank you very much!”), parents and caregivers will appreciate that the sentiment is primarily used for comedic effect, as even young bears can’t get off the hook for bath time. Griffiths’ illustrations, done in ink and colored digitally, support the story in a straightforward and cheerful manner."--BCCB