Sister Bear: A Norse tale adapted by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Linda Graves

[Review originally published in January 2012]

I've been excited about this title ever since I first heard about it last spring! Full disclosure: I am fascinated with Scandinavian folklore and fairy stories and especially those tales with bears. Interestingly, Jan Brett also has a version of this tale, Who's that knocking on Christmas Eve? published in 2002 by Putnam, but Yolen takes a very different approach to the story.

The original story, "The Cat on the Dovrefell," tells the story of a family who is invaded by trolls every Christmas Eve until a boy with a bear stops by and frightens the trolls away. 

Yolen fills in the backstory, starting with a girl named Halva who raises a bear from a cub until it becomes "Sister Bear" and a part of her family. She sets out to see the King of Denmark and stops on Christmas Eve to spend the night in a cottage, but Gusterson and his family are running away from the yearly invasion of trolls. With Sister Bear's help, Halva frightens the trolls away and becomes a firm friend of the Gustersons. She completes her journey to see the king and every year afterwards spends Christmas Eve with her new friends.

Yolen's lyrical writing captures the sparkling flavor of the Scandinavian tale, with the characters' brisk chatter, clever tricks, and the stupid but dangerous trolls. The retelling hits all the major points of the original story while still being a good length for a read-aloud with younger children. Linda Graves' illustrations are the perfect fit, with elaborately patterned clothes, glowing firesides and shining snowy landscapes, and a horde of tattooed and terrifying trolls. Yolen includes an author's note detailing the tale's origins and some of the changes she's made to the story, along with sources and references.

Verdict: Add this one to your fairy tale collection and to your winter storytelling repertoire. A few sound effects make it an alternatively creepy and funny story for older listeners, while preschool children will appreciate a straight read-aloud with the swinging cadence of the text carrying them through the longer story. Highly recommended.

Revisited: I'm always fascinated by how patiently kids will listen to this story, even though it's rather lengthy. It also makes a good neutral holiday book if you don't know if Christmas books are wanted or not, as the illustrations don't show anything that most Americans would identify as "Christmas" and the few mentions of the holiday in the text can be skipped. This is still in print via Two Lions/Amazon and remains a favorite outreach title.

ISBN: 9780781459583; Published November 2011 by Marshall Cavendish; Review copy provided by publisher through Raab Associates