Bruce’s Big Storm
By Ryan T. Higgins

Shiloh’s Rating: Grrr, I guess Four Paws

Bow wowser, I can’t tell you how hard it was to give this book Four Paws, and that’s not because I don’t have a thumb to hit the space bar.

Where are the dogs? Bruce’s Big Storm is about animals. There is not even one human in this book. Even the main character, Bruce, is a big grouchy bear. There are bunnies, mice, moose and a whole zoo-ful of these critters but no dogs. Oh, sure, the author, Mr. Higgins includes a fox, which may look a bit like a dog but they don’t even know to do their business outside, look it up! And another one of the characters looks to be a coyote, but please, not a dog. If anything, they’re like a gangster cousin of a dog.

Alright, let’s move on. I do like Bruce the bear. He’s a bit of a grouch but he’s cool and I think deep under all that fur and whatever else bears have, is a good heart, especially when his neighbors need him the most.

You’ll love the artwork in this book. All of the non-dog critters have really expressive faces and the author uses a nice selection of color. There are other books about Bruce the bear so keep an eye out for those as well.

For your information, although this book is about a large scary storm, there is a very happy ending and despite the fact there are no dogs to lead them to safety, all the animals are safe at the end.

Hopefully, my next selection will return to the ever-popular world of dog literature.

For more information about this author:

ryanthiggins.com

Parents: Bruce’s Big Storm is another book intended for early readers but would be a great book to be read to younger children. The animal illustrations are expressive and really help to tell the story. The theme of the story is cooperation and is an effective fable for the explanation of that concept. There is an illustration of all the animals holding hands which would be a great poster for the concept of working together.