The Bear and The Piano – David Litchfield

I’ve seen a lot of publicity around the book, The Bear and The Piano by David Litchfield, and I was so thrilled when the team at Frances Lincoln sent me a copy to review. We have been reading this at bedtime with the children over the past few weeks.

The book is extraordinarily illustrated – it is packed edge to edge with colour and the detail in it is immense. I have sat and leafed through this book on my own a few times and am just drawn in so much by the illustrations. It is, in places luminescent, and I have no idea how David Litchfield has managed this – but the pages almost glow.

The story itself is about a young bear who, one day, finds a piano in the forest. Over time he teaches himself to play and embarks on a journey to New York where he becomes a huge star. Despite having fame and fortune he misses the friends and family he left behind.

It is a lovely story and I hope that as Mr D gets older and understands the moral of the story more he will want to explore and follow his own dreams, but of course still remember me and the rest of our family.

This is such a wonderful book and it’s one that Mr D sits very quietly for. He often interrupts me when I’m reading to tell me what he can see and his interpretations of the story, but for this one he sits still and soaks in all the images. It’s only after the fifth or sixth reading of this that he started to tell me about the things he could see.

This is a lovely book and I can’t wait to see more from David Litchfield.