[.ca] The Bear Under the Stairs Mini Treasure (ISBN 0552548812)

Now this is a bear with an edge:
There is a horror lurking under the stairs in little William's house - a hungry grizzly bear with a taste for little boys and an unnatural interest in their toys. Although it is too dark down there for William to tell for certain, strange forms in the shadows and the whispered counsels of his deepest fears convince him he must deal with this terror on his own, as he lacks the hard evidence needed to alert the powers above (his parents) to the menace below. Since this is no 'Home Alone', William's only option is to appease the bear in a desperate effort to avoid becoming its next lunch. Ultimately these efforts backfire and draw a new character into the struggle just in time for the final showdown. Author Helen Cooper possesses a rare insight into children's minds and the childhood world. She knows their twilight places and the monsters that fill them. And as her other successful works (such as 'The Boy Who Wouldn't Go to Bed') demonstrate, she is particularly adept at depicting those places in rich, colourful pastels, and from the perspective of small children (we see much of William's world at doorknob height and some adults mainly from the neck down). She is also great when it comes to drawing little boys and bears and their families. The piece de resistance comes in the page illustrating William's ultimate nightmare fantasy, a Boschian garden of unearthly delights starring a hot-tubbing, cross-dressing, pancake-flipping, walkman-dancing, TV-watching, electric-train borrowing, bannister-sliding bear in full rampage. Like the Ahlbergs' 'Peepo', Cooper's illustrations contain some of the most richly humourous explorations of the issue of subjective perception that I have seen in a children's book. Not only is there the obvious question of what does William really see down there, we also get to share the bear's perspective on William and his world (not flattering). If there were an academy award for best character in this book, the bear would win hands down. This is not to take anything away from William, but there is something powerful in that bear's face that defies quick categorization. This is no teddy bear. He's got an edge, a face that could indeed take a bite out of a little boy. To make matters worse, we often see that bear in an annoyed, even hostile state, as William's frantic attempts at appeasement bomb out big time. Yet in the final showdown there is something indefinable about that bear that grabs our sympathies by the throat. Perhaps in banishing this bear, this archetype of primal childhood fears, the hero is also banishing a fundamental and irretrievable part of childhood itself. If your reading audience consists of those who insist on starting at the copyright notice and earlier, be forewarned, this book will vindicate all their prejudices, as it features key illustrations both on the title page and after the text has trimphantly concluded. These (and particularly the look on his face!) suggest that reports that the bear has been permanently vanquished may be greatly exaggerated. This book deserves to be recognized as a classic for 4- to 8-year-olds.