The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

Title: The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

Bibliographic information:

Author: Julia Sarcone-Roach

Illustrator: Julia Sarcone-Roach

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (January 6, 2015)
• Publication Date: January 6, 2015
• Sold by: Random House LLC
• Language: English

Reader's Annotation:

The bear ate your sandwich.  I saw the whole thing with my own eyes.

Interest Level: Ages 4-7

Lexile level: 490

Awards, if applicable:

Not Applicable

Plot summary: The bear ate your sandwich, the narrator tells you.  It’s a fairly simple story - the bear was accidentally taken out of the forest, came in on a truck, and he came to the park.  He was hungry.  He was also a stealthy bear - the sandwich never saw him coming.  Honest.  That’s the truth.  

Critical review:  The art is what makes this book incredible. The colors are vivid and the characters beautifully crafted. But what is really exceptional is how the author-illustrator integrates the art into the story.  The narrator of the story his highly unreliable. As you look at the images, you will see the gradual shift in colors from fantastical to more muted.  The perspective, likewise, reflects the view of that unreliable narrator.  This book hints at literary concepts through the mix of visual and verbal clues, while still being playful and imaginative.

Why include it?

This gorgeous picture book is useful for introducing children to the concept of narrative bias - as well as being a beautiful and funny read.