Lily loves to draw, and when her crayon-sketched bear comes off the page and into real life, she finally has a friend to share her favorite things with: playing make-believe, attending tea parties, and “sail[ing] carpet seas” as pirates. Eventually, Bear is ready for something new, and he leads Lily outdoors and shares his world with her. Stubbs shows them catching fish, eating huckleberries, “and scratch[ing] their backs on a knotty pine” until the day is done and they curl up to dream of future adventures. The charming, childlike style of Lily’s crayoned art gives way to the screenprint-meets-scratchboard look of newcomer Stubbs’s mixed-media work, giving the book a playful freshness. The cheerful palette, which looks like it could have sprung directly from Lily’s crayon pail, is well suited to this upbeat story of young friendship. The contrast between Lily and Bear’s indoor and outdoor worlds, as well as the willingness with which both friends participate in things the other loves, creates a strong sense that all good friendships require a little give and take.

– Publishers Weekly, June 29, 2015

PreS-Gr 1–Lily, a girl in a red tutu, loves to draw. One day she depicts friendship andimaginative play in the form of a big brown bear. Together, Lily and Bear go onkid adventures and bear adventures until it is time to sleep. The illustrationsare done in a naive style with crayons and swaths of geometric patterns.Simple, bold text contributes just enough to the illustrations, creating alovely partnership between words and images. VERDICT Stubbs has created a fanciful delight that willbe a great addition to picture book and storytime collections.–

– School Library Journal, October 2015