The Bear and the Wildcat
Age 4+
Picture Storybooks
A picture book with delicate illustrations that explains the path of grief, ending with the uplifting new beginning of a budding friendship based on understanding.
When the little bird dies, his friend the bear is inconsolable. Full of grief, he locks himself in his house and ventures out again only when the smell of young spring grass blows through his window. He always carries a small box, which he opens for no one.
He meets a wildcat who understands his need to carry the box. As the cat plays on her violin, the bear remembers all the beauty he experienced with the little bird. Now he can bury his friend, keeping him alive in his memories and feelings.
Explaining the topic of grief and loss in a way that speaks to any age and with a quiet understanding of what it is like to lose someone you love, The Bear and the Wildcat shows a way through paralysing grief and simultaneously tells the story of a hopeful new friendship.
Tender and sensitive, this is an excellent tool for helping to explain the process of grief, loss and bereavement with children or anyone who needs it. Loved by adults and children, also suitable for schools, hospices, grief centres and counsellors
Translated from the Japanese edition by Cathy Hirano.
Komako Sakai lives in Japan and studied art in Tokyo. She is one of the most popular children’s illustrators in Japan and winner of the Japanese Picture Book Prize, and her books are published throughout the world.
Kazumi Yumoto was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her books, mostly novels for older children, have won numerous international awards.
Praise for The Bear and the Wildcat
“A tender story…(and) forward-looking book for children who have loved and lost.” Wall Street Journal
“Quietly contemplative, mingling hope and healing, this is a book that will offer comfort to many.” Kirkus Reviews, starred review.
“In this touching story about grief, Bear mourns the death of his friend Bird, working his way from being paralyzed by sadness to reengaging with the world.” Booklist
“This powerful story deals with one of life’s most complicated and painful aspects with delicacy and honesty. Intricately layered pencil illustration accompanies the tale to create a story that is very moving but also filled with hope.” BookTrust UK
“If grieving people are allowed to grieve, then they will find their way back to the joy of life - that’s the message of this delicate Japanese book.” Die Zeit
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year 2023
Creators
Kazumi Yamoto was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1959. She studied music composition at Tokyo College and during this time wrote opera libretti and plays for radio and television. Her books, mostly novels for older children, have won numerous international awards.
Komako Sakai lives in Japan and studied art in Tokyo. She is one of the most popular children’s illustrators in Japan and winner of the Japanese Picture Book Prize, and her books are published throughout the world.
Reviews
Quietly contemplative, mingling hope and healing, this is a book that will offer comfort to many.
Kirkus Reviews
In this touching story about grief, Bear mourns the death of his friend Bird, working his way from being paralyzed by sadness to reengaging with the world.
Booklist
The Bear and the Wildcat provides a sensitive treatment of death and grieving, free from sentimentality or trite. The book is exquisitely designed with its small landscape format, its backgrounds of the colour and texture of oatmeal, and vignette illustrations mostly framed to suggest that the viewer is seeing everything through a rectangular porthole with softened corners, or perhaps thumbing through an album of smudgy memories. This gem of a book could clearly be of comfort to a child who has suffered bereavement, but also offers great scope for reading and discussion in class, from upper primary and above.
Magpies Magazine
