Although the artwork draws most of the attention, the understated writing and steady pacing offer solid support. Soman manages to suggest the gentle colors and textures of old color lithography, giving the pages the feeling of a dog-eared vintage find. Rating details 1,364 ratings 263 reviews From the co-creator of the New York Timesbestselling Ladybug Girl series comes a high seas adventure inspired by the classic picture books Little Bear and Where the Wild Things Are. When a treacherous storm suddenly blows in, the three bears find themselves tossed about in their little boat, far from Mama. On their quest they encounter salty sailors, strange new islands, huge whales, and vast seas but no blue seashells. David, Jacky, their children, and a big furry dog live in New Yorks Hudson Valley. Three bear siblings break their mother's favorite blue seashell, and rather than tell her, they decide to set out in their sailboat to find her a new one. Their journey allows Soman to paint both comic vignettes (the bears meet a dory called “Melville” loaded with dogged-looking whalers and a harpoon) and breathtaking sea scenes as the bears get tossed by the huge green waves of a storm, meet some whales, and, in one particularly beautiful spread, sail along a glittering trail of light on the ocean waves. and illustrator of Three Bears in a Boat and The Monster Next Door. Rather than confess (they’re “Afraid of their mama, who, after all, was a bear”), they conspire to replace the shell before she gets home, setting off boldly to search for one in their sailboat. Dash, Theo, and Charlie, three young bears, have broken their mother’s treasured blue shell in an attempt to reach the honey jar on the mantel. Soman, co-creator of the bestselling Ladybug Girl series, makes his first solo effort, one that gives his artwork plenty of opportunities to shine. He is the New York Times bestselling co-creator of the Ladybug Girl series with his wife Jacky Davis, as well as author and illustrator of Three Bears in a Boat.

Three bears in a boat by david soman