Brother Hugo and the Bear - Hardcover

by Katy Beebe (Author), S. D. Schindler (Illustrator)

"Combines suspense, humor, and information in a handsome, entertaining package." --School Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

"Prepare to be charmed by a bear who loves words -- or at least loves to eat them." -- Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)

"Interesting, wry and educational." -- The New York Times

In this humorous and charming picture book, a monk struggles to return a library book because of a bear...with a taste for letters.

Brother Hugo can't return his library book -- the letters of St. Augustine -- because, it turns out, the precious book has been devoured by a bear!

Instructed by the abbot to borrow another monastery's copy and create a replacement, the hapless monk painstakingly crafts a new book, copying it letter by letter and line by line. But when he sets off to return the borrowed copy, he finds himself trailed by his hungry new friend. Once a bear has a taste of letters, it appears, he's rarely satisfied.

Brother Hugo and the Bear is loosely based on a note found in a 12th-century manuscript -- and largely on the creative imaginings of author and historian Katy Beebe. Lavishly illustrated by S. D. Schindler in the style of medieval manuscripts, this humorous tale is sure to delight passionate readers who have acquired their own taste for books.

Author Biography

Katy Beebe teaches history at University of Texas at Arlington and has a doctorate in Medieval History from the University of Oxford. She spent many years studying the kinds of medieval manuscripts that Brother Hugo might have made.

S.D. Schindler is an award-winning illustrator of many bestselling picture books, including Come to the Castle! (Flash Point), The Story of Salt (Putnam Juvenile), and Big Pumpkin (Aladdin). He lives in Pennsylvania.