How to Be Human: A Bear’s Guide

In a unique response to a lack of food, sleep, and “fewer trees for scratching” due to human encroachment, a bear concludes that he must learn how to be a human. He gathers food and drinks to place in a cooler with ice and sets up a cozy tent for a peaceful sleep. But he still requires instruction on the essential things (winning a thumb war, finding ideal hide-and-seek spots) provided to him by a girl who happens to speak “fluent Bear”. The girl and the bear venture into the city, but the spaces are too crowded, small, and simply “un-bear-able,” so they retreat to the forest. The girl concludes that humans should be more like bears, not vice versa, enjoying the “smell of a summer sky just before it rains” and “to take only as many berries as you need.” Their adventures mark the beginning of a wonderful friendship full of sharing and understanding.

A sweet and compelling story, How to be Human presents a refreshing approach to picture books within the environmentalist genre without being overbearing or didactic. It showcases the importance of children taking a lead role in altering human behaviour in natural settings. The book also ends with a promise of a lifelong friendship between the bear and the girl – and sets up the potential for future sequels. The illustrations are colourful, capturing both the beauty of the forest and the whimsical expressions of a joyful bear. Multicultural, age-diverse, and ability-diverse characters are represented.