The Girl who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson

The Girl who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson, illustrated by Kathryn Honesta

Synopsis

They call me Yanka the Bear. Not because of where I was found - only a few people know about that. They call me Yanka the Bear because I am so big and strong.

Found abandoned in a bear cave as a baby, Yanka has always wondered about where she is from. She tries to ignore the strange whispers and looks from the villagers, wishing she was as strong on the inside as she is on the outside. But, when she has to flee her house, looking for answers about who she really is, a journey far beyond one that she ever imagined begins: from icy rivers to smouldering mountains meeting an ever-growing herd of extraordinary friends along the way.

Cover photo

Review

I have had this book in my shelf since I had it gifted to me for my birthday. I thought it time that I read it and I’m really pleased that I did! It is featured on the UKLA Book awards long list 2021 and I can see why.

This book has a lot of gems to write about-the first being the extreme likability of the protagonist Yanka, who is a misfit in her village. She is such a loveable character and from the start we can tell she just wants to fit in. I warmed to her straight away and that made me want to read on.

The second gem is the short, fable-like tales that interlace the chapters. The short story pages are illustrated with a border pattern that picks them apart from the main plot. At first, we do not know the significance of these fairytale/fable stories, but as the book progresses we understand these tales are key to Yanka’s adventure.

The third gem of this book is the illustrations that are dotted around the chapters. My daughter who is five, was able to guess some of the story based on the illustrations and was extremely interested and excited by them. Especially the picture of Smey the three headed dragon! They give the book such character, even down to the small illustrations at the beginning of each chapter.

Yanka’s story is that of friendship, family and coming home to oneself.  The comparison to family as being Yanka’s herd, is heartwarming, and she finds herself with a herd of unusual animal friends. There is a familiarity between Yanka’s friend the weasel ‘Mousetrap’ and Lyra’s daemon Pan in ‘Northern Lights’ by Philip Pullman. All the characters have different strengths, some are are strong powerful animal characters such as wolves and dragons, whilst some are strong in spirit such as owls and elks. All the characters are very well developed and we grow to love all of them. Yanka’s discovery of herself is wonderful.

I really loved this book and right from the first page I was hooked. If you enjoy fables and fairy stories and adventure and fantasy then you will love this. The fantasy aspect of this book is very approachable for younger readers.

ISBN: 1474940676

Publisher: Usborne Publishing

Publication date: 5th September 2019