B Each large page is a gloriously rich photo, some as stark as a single well-loved bear in black and white with the caption "The End of the Affair." Others are beautifully colored, with tapestries and clothing as important as the bears themselves. From camping to visiting museums to ear repair at a bear hospital, our fuzzy friends are shown enjoying lives to the fullest--entirely separate from their human companions.

Children in particular will enjoy pages like Teddy in the bath, accompanied by a starkly typed note saying "at least it wasn't the washing machine. I wouldn't have survived that a second time." Most pictures have small captions, but a few pages are text-heavy, exploring the beginnings of teddy bears, bears in history, and their beloved roles at bedtime. For kids or collectors, Teddy's World will be a slightly mysterious, entertaining glimpse at what your bear gets up to when you leave the room. Didn't you already suspect it?

De Vries has been putting her myriad antique stuffed bears into ornate and homey arrangements and photographing them for 27 years: bears reading to each other; bears in the bath; bears undergoing complicated operations (by bear surgeons); bears in school; bears in the kitchen; bears picnicking, these and many other tableaux can be found in this loving paean to her creature collection. Publishing entrepreneur Elffers (Play with Your Food), who popularized Tangram puzzles, has chosen more than a thousand of de Vries's color images for this 9.5" x 11.5" book, which includes three double folds and four single folds. The vintage bears have a refreshingly handmade look in an age of machine-made fluorescent and electric toys, and they are nattily and whimsically attired. The pithily captioned tableaux have been composed with thought, care and humor: Faux fur ensemble from Orsa de Bar. The book's complete lack of slickness, to the point of clunky cover fonts and decidedly unbusy layout, works in its favor. Acknowledgments include psychologist D.W. Winnicott's Playing and Reality (a book that "identifies the teddy bear... as a transitional object, the first 'not me'") and the book takes as its motto Saevis Inter se Convenit Ursis, or "Bears live in harmony with other bears." With such warm encouragement, everyone can see him or herself as ursine. Hardcover with book jacket, 10 x 12" oversize shipping! Joost Elffers Books 0-9718975-0-6 / 9780971897502
Hardcover with book jacket New condition 

Price: 34.16 USD