Changes

''A Boy and a Bear in a Boat'' is a joy to read: slightly surreal, funny, a little bit scary. It's about friendship and trials but also simply about indulging your imagination. There are some lovely interactions between boy and bear and it will be interesting to see which appeal most to the children and which to their parents. The illustrations are just gorgeous, also ranging from daft to dark and beyond. And the whole package has just the right amount of delightful eccentricity, replacing the bear's landless map, with fake aging ageing and even a tea stain.