BEAR OUT THERE Book Trailer Premiere

Jacob Grant joins me today to share the book trailer for BEAR OUT THERE, the sequel to his 2018 picture book BEAR'S SCARE.

Here's a synopsis of the upcoming BEAR OUT THERE:

Bear's favorite place is inside. He loves sharing his tidy home with his friend Spider. Spider loves the outdoors!

When Spider's kite flies away, Bear must venture out and into the messy forest to help his friend.

As their quest in the forest goes from bad to worse, Bear and Spider show readers that being a friend means being there for each other, no matter what.

I have always been drawn to Jacob's choice of color palettes in his picture books. They feel like I'm swimming in a giant pool of assorted sherbets and sorbets. Very soothing colors that pull everything together a bit like a sunset.

This newest book challenges Bear to step outside his comfort zone in order to be alongside his friend. Bear's not a fan of the outdoors, but he's willing to step out for his friend.

This spread does a great job of setting the stage:

See what I'm talking about with those colors? Oh my word those pinks and purples! So lovely!

Jacob's new book is a lot of fun. I especially loved watching Bear growing increasingly uncomfortable and yet remain devoutly at his friend's side. I feel like that speaks a lot to his character (and to Jacob, who chose to tell the story in this way.)

Jacob came by to share the book trailer for BEAR OUT THERE.

Play the video below, then scroll down to read as Jacob finishes my sentences.

JACOB FINISHES MY SENTENCES:

The idea for Bear Out There first came from... dreaming up the best way to make Bear uncomfortable. In Bear’s Scare we learn that Bear is a homebody, who prefers things nice and tidy. Well, I can think of nothing less tidy than a forest full of natural messy splendor!

In the story... Bear’s friend, Spider, has his kite carried off by the wind, and Bear must venture out of his tidy home and into the messy forest to help him find it. As their quest goes from bad to worse, Bear and Spider show readers that being a friend means being there for each other, no matter what.

The illustrations in the story... were made of shapes drawn by hand using charcoal, crayon, and ink, scanned into the computer, piled up in photoshop layers, and colored digitally. It’s a bit like printmaking, but the result is a cabinet full of charcoal shapes that I don’t know what to do with.

One thing I hope readers will take from this story is... that friendship is about compromise and helping one another, even when that is not such an easy thing to do.

If given the choice between playing outside or relaxing at home, I prefer... to go out there! One of my favorite things about having kids is that they push me out of the comfort of my routine to simply get out and play. Besides, living with a 3 year old boy and 9 month old girl, there’s little relaxing going on at home