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 4* Ballet Larry!
Published only a half a year after "Bad Bears and a Bunny," this 2006 offering lacks the sly wit and bravado of the "Bad Bear" series. The stories about Larry and Roy generally have fewer hi-jinks and big laughs than those about blueberry muffin-stealing Irving and Muktuk (the two bad bears), and I suppose the latter series has somewhat spoiled me.
Still, Larry (who not only loves muffins, but is a pretty kewl, bongo playing bear to boot) is a little too society-respectable in this outing. Although, Larry exhibits some nice ballet steps moves and involves his fellow bears in a concert at the "Hotel Larry," a little more excitement and mischief would have enlivened the story. Blueberry muffins are bearly (pun intended) mentioned until the conclusion, when they are offered as a post-concert snack.
Perhaps Daniel and Jill Pinkwater (or their new publisher) targeted a younger audience or stricter parents. It's true that Larry protests openly ("I think that is highly unfair") when Madeline Frobisher's ballet teacher, Madame Swoboda, refuses him entry to the dance boards {"this is a dancing class for children and not for bears"), but he accepts this edict. He learns ballet steps from Madeline (daughter of "Hotel Larry" owner, Martin Frobisher), gets Roy and two other zoo bears to practice positions, and finally invites hotel guests to "The Polar Bear Ballet Production of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears.'" The surprise that Larry promises to reveal at the show is either that he has written a prince into the story, or that the performers will enjoy blueberry muffins after the performance. The conclusion is fairly abrupt, leaving one as unsatisfied as a bear without a blueberry.
Those who are not longtime fans will enjoy the recounting of the bears' more mischievous days (although others may find the rehashing too familiar), and Pinkwater displays his typical narrative and cadence. Pinkwater intentionally over-writes his (long) sentences, as if the bears had learned English throsgh a phrase book. For example (and this is an oft-repeated, funny line used throughout the story), Larry tells the other bears the function of ballet as learned from Madeline, "We will learn to tell a story and express feelings through movement!" Jill Pinkwater draws colorful, humorous pictures, showing the dancing bears in enthusiastic dance poses, but they don't seem quite as vibrabt as in some of the other books.
This is a good book for fans of bears, dance, and dancing bears, and Pinkwater's signature writing style is always a joy. I suggest, however, that you sample other books about Larry, such as "The Hotel Larry," and "Bongo Larry," or get Irving and Muktuk in "Bad Bear Detectives," perhaps the best in the Pinkwaters' two series of bear books. I'll give this book 4*, up from the 3 1/2* I originally gave it.
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