Published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers on September 3, 2024
Genres: Children's
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A dreamlike tale about a bear, a boy, and the conversation they share one snowy evening.
Hiro is a bear too curious to sleep all winter long. So she packs her things, heads out of her cave, and follows some odd tracks in the snow…. straight into a bonfire party! Everyone runs away—except for Émile. He is a boy too curious to give up his chance to talk to a bear. “What it’s like, being a bear?” Émile asks Hiro. As bear and boy sit, talk, and roast marshmallows, a friendship sparks between them…
With wonderfully quirky narration and richly colored art, this enchanting book begs to be read aloud on cozy nights by the fire. Young readers will be delighted by Hiro and Émile’s winter world of crackling bonfires, bear songs, and ooey-gooey toasted marshmallows.
Hiro is a bear who doesn’t want to hibernate. She wakes up in the middle of the winter and decides to explore. And what she finds is absolutely incredible. Hiro: Winter and Marshmallows continues a winter/hibernation theme from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers as they move into the winter of 2024. Other winter books recently published include The Most Beautiful Winter and Counting Winter. Like a lot of EBYR books, Hiro is a translation (done by Vineet Lal, who is a regular for Eerdmans) from French and I always find it interesting to see the subtle cultural differences between American and non-American children’s books.
Hiro decides to wake up and go exploring and she stumbles her way right into a party. The humans hosting the party all run away, except for little Emile. Really a bad decision on Emile’s part if this was real life, but this is not and Hiro and Emile sit down for a snack of toasted marshmallows.
Their conversation turns introspective: “What’s it like to be a bear?” “What’s it like to be an Emile?” The answers are vague and unclear but the two have quite a bit of fun before Emile is called to return home and Hiro feels a bit sleepy. The two part ways but always remember the fun time they had.
Hiro is a bit meandering and unfocused. The people at the bonfire run away but Emile’s mom knows that he’s still out there? Should people in this world be scared of bears or not? Marine Schneider fails to really draw out any of the themes or storylines she starts, which is really a shame because her illustrations are beautiful. I think this was meant to be a story of unexpected friendships and that the unknown other doesn’t have to be scary, but it’s not well-developed. An interesting premise but the author just doesn’t take it anywhere.