The Me Tree

The bear cave is crowded. Hibernation time made things unbearable for Bear. He had no space and no privacy. He had to find a place of his own with roomy room and no one else in it. So Bear went on a hunt, checking ads and posters, and finally finding a treehouse for rent. Ah. A place all for him. He named it the “Me Tree” and moved right in. But someone was using his cable television. Someone was eating his popcorn. Someone was using his bathroom and taking his own sweet time about it! He finally got everyone out, but maybe being all by himself wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Ashley Belote has written and illustrated a cute early reader with lots and lots of humor in both the writing and the illustrations to keep youngsters engaged. That said, it is hard to know if children so young will get all the jokes. For instance, will they recognize the animal on the toilet as a sloth, and if they do, will they know how incredibly slow sloths are? Some of the challenge words are too challenging. Otherwise, this is a fine early reader.