Category: Illustrated Books

A gentle book about that Lost and Crumpled feeling: It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In

Have you ever felt all alone on the world’s wide floor. And no-one’s said what for. Nor if you can be found? That lost feeling can crumple you anywhere.

It would be grand to be found by, well, Someone. But how does that happen? Does anyone know? Is anyone there?

‘Reading this book is like receiving a great big hug of reassurance and a huge hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows.’ Lady Bracknell, review on Amazon

It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In is a book about optimism, searching for new adventures, and making the most of life and love. Review on Goodreads by Debbie Young, author of Sophie Sayer Mysteries.

“Ready comparisons can be made to the giants of literary beardom, such as Paddington and Winnie the Pooh”. Review by Joey Madia.

‘Mawson is a precious teddy  who should be a staple read on every little one’s bookshelf. He certainly has a home on ours.  I know he certainly inspired my own inner child.’ Lyndie, Bookaholic reviews. 

Our publisher is Odyssey Books. Look also at Bookshop Org (supporting local bookshops), at Amazon everywhere, at Booktopia, at Walmart, at AbeBooks, Mighty Ape (New Zealand), Google Books, at Booklubben and more. 

You are at Baffled Bear Books, brought to you by Mark, who is Guardian and blundering typist for Mawson Bear, one of this bright world’s few published bears. Mawson is the writer bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and of She Ran Away From Love and of Dreamy Days and Random Naps.

A reading of Chubby’s Tale, The true story of a teddy bear who beat cancer

#Cancer #Kids #Teachers #ReadAloud #AmReading #ChildhoodCancer #Pediatrics #Oncology #Hematology Yay! The fabulous Joey and Tony Madia did a wonderful, super cute reading of Chubby’s Tale: The true story of a teddy bear who beat cancer in their channel Saturday Morning Story Time Live. Check this out! A huge thank you to Joey and Tonya!

A full reading of Chubby by Carola’s fav actors!

Yay! The fabulous Joey and Tony Madia did a wonderful, super cute reading of Chubby’s Tale: The true story of a teddy bear who beat cancer in their channel Saturday Morning Story Time Live. Check this out! You can see the Youtube of their reading and learn all about Chubby by clicking this link.

We also reviewed Chubby’s Tale right here too. We follow Chubby’s brave journey. The chemotherapy makes some of his hair fall out. Oh dear, who will take home from the shop a teddy with bald patches?  How does it all work out?  Well, that’s all in this book which I (and Mawson and his friends) recommend highly.

Where to find Chubby’s Book:  Amazon (And it’s FREE. to read on Kindle Unlimited.) You can also follow Chubby on Facebook. You can also make your own Chubby! See this link. To see just one of the lovely reviews, see this link.

The author, Carola Schmidt, is a Pediatric Oncology Pharmacist and also author of several scientific books on paediatric oncology.

You are at Baffled Bear Books, brought to you by Mark, who is Guardian and blundering typist for Mawson Bear, one of this bright world’s few published bears. Mawson is the writer bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and of She Ran Away From Love and of Dreamy Days and Random Naps.

The Adventurous Princess and other Feminist Fairy Tales, by Erin-Claire Barrow

‘What if Beauty stood up to the Beast, the Princess never tried to sleep on the pea .. and the Swan Maiden took revenge on the hunter who kidnapped her?‘ (From the Back Cover.)

The nine tales retold here include ‘Beauty and The Beast’, ‘The Frog Prince’ and ‘The ‘Swan Maiden’, but now you see them with new eyes. Our Teddettes Jane Austen And Other Books Too Club certainly did.

Our Professor Caddy got her paws on this beautifully illustrated retelling of fairy tales. On the cover, a young woman, head held high and wearing sturdy boots, looks ready to protect herself (spear) and to find her own way about (map). The back cover suggests she is less concerned about the dragon than the dragon might be about her. There is not a tiara or movement-restricting dress in sight. ‘I must bring this to our Tedettes Jane Austen Bookclub’, said Caddy. ‘These princesses look so different and bold’.

Tedette Samantha loved the first tale, ‘The Princess and The Pea’. This is the exactly kind of princess Sam wants to be! She dashed off to put on her ‘exploring bag’, inspired to go adventuring herself right away.

Wise old Hilda-Bear read ‘Cinderella.’ ‘Marvellous’, muttered Hilda, ‘ Marvellous. Why should we bears of ‘a certain age’ miss out when it comes to fairy tales. Marvellous, just marvellous’.

Tedette Lizbeth is always conscious of her lovely fur. She went straight to the tale of ‘Snow White’ which features the magic talking mirror. Well, it was not quite how she remembered it. “Mirror, mirror on the wall’, asks the Queen, ‘who is the fairest of them all?’ Lizbeth was delighted at how this story turns out. She will never look at mirrors or her fur the same way again.



I think we will all want to see more tales in this light! Oh, and there are ‘morals’ in these tales for princes too, for instance, that wearing glasses and loving books is perfectly fine, and that waiting about on a lily pad in a murky pond hoping a princess will come to you is perhaps not the best way to go forth in life.

‘The charm, whimsy and magic of traditional fairytales remain, but the diverse characters challenge stereotypes about who they should be or how the y should act, stand up for themselves, and shape their own futures. ‘(From Back Cover).

The Adventurous Princess is both written and illustrated by Erin-Claire Barrow. Her full-page colour drawings are respectful of the original tales but visually turn us to appreciate them differently. Erin hopes such stories ‘inspire young people, and young women in particular, to see themselves as the strong, clever and adventurous heroes of their own stories.’ (Foreword.) You can see more of Erin’s work at her website. Take a look, for instance, at her collection called ‘Dangerous creatures from Celtic folklore.’

The Adventurous Princess and Other Feminist Fairy Tales is published by Publisher Obscura, an imprint of Odyssey Books . You can also find it on Amazon where it is alsocurrently FREE on Kindle unlimited, although with illustrations of this quality you will want to hold the real thing in your hands.

Mark, your host here at Baffled Bear Books, is also guardian and blundering typist for Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published bears. Mawson is the writer-bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and She Ran Away From Love. 

What Do Your Bears Want To Get You for Christmas? More Books, of course

Mawson’s Guardian Says: Fortunately, we happen to know about books that are entirely suitable for your bears. They are suitable too for everyone you know who loves them. Oh yes, our Mawson the Writer-bear’s little books are just the thing to get your paws on

As everyone knows, bears read books. They’re not just sitting idly on your bookshelves -they are reading. But when they aren’t looking you can take out the books and read them yourself!

Our publisher is Odyssey Books. Just type in www.odysseybooks.com.au and there they will be. They will look like this:

What Mawson's books look like on Odyssey Books Website
What Mawson’s books look like on Odyssey Books Website

Plonk Down Your Paw: Just click on this blue stuff right here to find them. Collect them all for your bears, for your plushie loving friends, or … Just for yourself. Carry them about and dip into on dreary days.

Where else to find them

Our publisher is Odyssey Books. Look also at Bookshop Org (supporting local bookshops), at Amazon everywhere, at Booktopia, at Walmart, at AbeBooks, Mighty Ape (New Zealand), Google Books, at Booklubben and more. 

KINDLE TOO: Mawson’s books, It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and She Ran Away From Love , are FREE on Kindle Unlimited on most Amazon regions. Or buy the Kindles for only around $US 3. All the books are in soft cover copies that you can keep and turn to whenever you feel a bit too baffled, a bit too ruffled, and just want a cosy world to sink into.

Happy Christmas reading for you and all your bears and friends.

PLEASE FOLLOW US At Baffled Bear Books .
Simply plonk your paw on the FOLLOW buttons on this very page.
You can also follow on Amazon and on GoodReads. We are also on Instagram, and Tiktok, and Spotify and Mastodon (link is @mawsonbear@mastodon.au. )

Books by Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published Writer-Bears

Do you sometimes feel a bit muddled about, well, Things ?

Sometimes rather ruffled when Things just go and, well, Happen ?

Sometimes feel confused one moment and completely baffled the next?

Mawson and friends look at his little books

It’s not easy being Grownup. All this business of having to be sophisticated and industrious all day long! It just wears you down. But when you arrive in Mawson’s cosy world, the frazzled reader can flop down among the cushions and relax.

Here you can find the answers to just about nothing at all. You can forget you ever had questions anyway.

Mawson writes little books that are not full of the answers to life. Or perhaps they are

Mawson and his friends are befuddled about most things most of the time – just like so many of us. And that’s all right.

She Ran Away From Love,is all about his friend Frilly feeling hopelessly baffled by Big Questions.

‘A magical little grand tour into the meaning of happiness.‘
Sharri Williams Author of The Maybelline Story.

In It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In , Mawson attempts to put into words that mysterious feeling of Feeling Lost.

Its A Bright World To Feel Lost In, by Mawson

‘A book about optimism, searching for new adventures, and making the most of life and love.’
Review on Goodreads by Debbie Young, author of the Sophie Sayer Mysteries.

Dreamy Days and Random Naps looks at the joys of naps, sleeps, snacks, hopes and dreams.

‘Mawson is a precious teddy  who should be a staple read on every little one’s bookshelf. He certainly has a home on ours.  I know he certainly inspired my own inner child.’
Lyndie, Bookaholic reviews. 

Our publisher is Odyssey Books. Look also at Bookshop Org (supporting local bookshops), at Amazon everywhere, at Booktopia, at Walmart, at AbeBooks, Mighty Ape (New Zealand), Google Books, at Booklubben and more. 

Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones, by Steff Green and Bree Roldan: Bullying is never ok

From the book’s cover: It’s little Grim’s first day at his new school. But the other kids .. call him ‘freak’ and refuse to play with him.

A parent drops his kid off at school. Ok, he’s the Grim Reaper, but what of that detail? Just another parent doing a drop off, really, whatever that parent’s job might be. His son, Little Grim, like every new kid, worries if anyone will like him.

‘Little Grim gripped his lunchbox tight. He tried to steady his shaking knees.’

Stef Green and Bree Roldan, Only Freaks turn things into Bones

To his distress, he is seen as ‘different’ from the start. And he does something normal, so normal that most of us have done it at some time: he runs away.

But what if other people, lots of people in fact, are seen as ‘different’ too?

Beautifully presented in hardcover and with full page glorious coloured illustrations, this story lucidly tells how ..

.. Bullying is never ok. And you are not alone.

At Sticksnstones you can see a website by young people for young people about dealing with bullying. And here is KidsHelpLine for the same purpose.

Where to find it this book: From Odyssey Books , and Amazon and also Waterstones, Barnes and Noble and Chapters Indigo. Or, ask your friendly local bookstore to order it in for you, and for any friend who might appreciate this little gothic tale.

PLEASE FOLLOW US At Baffled Bear Books .
Simply plonk your paw on the FOLLOW buttons on this very page.
You can also follow on Amazon and on GoodReads. We are also on Instagram, and Tiktok, and Spotify and Mastodon (link is @mawsonbear@mastodon.au. )

Mark is guardian and blundering typist for Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published bears.

Before the Barbie Movie we had: The Adventurous Princess and other Feminist Fairy Tales, by Erin-Claire Barrow

‘What if Beauty stood up to the Beast, the Princess never tried to sleep on the pea .. and the Swan Maiden took revenge on the hunter who kidnapped her?‘ (From the Back Cover.)

Professor Caddy got her paws on this beautifully illustrated retelling of fairy tales. On the cover, a young woman, head held high and wearing sturdy boots, looks ready to protect herself (spear) and to find her own way about (map). The back cover suggests she is less concerned about the dragon than the dragon might be about her. There is not a tiara or movement-restricting dress in sight. ‘I must bring this to our Tedettes Jane Austen Bookclub’, said Caddy. ‘These princesses look so different and bold’.

Tedette Samantha loved the first tale, ‘The Princess and The Pea’. This is the exactly kind of princess Sam wants to be! She dashed off to put on her ‘exploring bag’, inspired to go adventuring herself right away.

Wise old Hilda-Bear read ‘Cinderella.’ ‘Marvellous’, muttered Hilda, ‘ Marvellous. Why should we bears of ‘a certain age’ miss out when it comes to fairy tales. Marvellous, just marvellous’.

Tedette Lizbeth is always conscious of her lovely fur. She went straight to the tale of ‘Snow White’ which features the magic talking mirror. Well, it was not quite how she remembered it. “Mirror, mirror on the wall’, asks the Queen, ‘who is the fairest of them all?’ Lizbeth was delighted at how this story turns out. She will never look at mirrors or her fur the same way again.



The nine tales retold here include ‘Beauty and The Beast’, ‘The Frog Prince’ and ‘The ‘Swan Maiden’, but now you see them with new eyes. I think we will all want to see more tales in this light! Oh, and there are ‘morals’ in these tales for princes too, for instance, that wearing glasses and loving books is perfectly fine, and that waiting about on a lily pad in a murky pond hoping a princess will come to you is perhaps not the best way to go forth in life.

‘The charm, whimsy and magic of traditional fairytales remain, but the diverse characters challenge stereotypes about who they should be or how the y should act, stand up for themselves, and shape their own futures. ‘(From Back Cover).

The Adventurous Princess is both written and illustrated by Erin-Claire Barrow. Her full-page colour drawings are respectful of the original tales but visually turn us to appreciate them differently. Erin hopes such stories ‘inspire young people, and young women in particular, to see themselves as the strong, clever and adventurous heroes of their own stories.’ (Foreword.) You can see more of Erin’s work at her website. Take a look, for instance, at her collection called ‘Dangerous creatures from Celtic folklore.’

The Adventurous Princess and Other Feminist Fairy Tales is published by Publisher Obscura, an imprint of Odyssey Books . You can also find it on Book Depository. On Amazon it is currently FREE on Kindle unlimited, although with illustrations of this quality you will want to hold the real thing in your hands. See also Barnes and Noble.

Mark, your host here at Baffled Bear Books, is also guardian and blundering typist for Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published bears. Mawson is the writer-bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and She Ran Away From Love. 

Books by Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published Writer-Bears

Do you sometimes feel a bit muddled about, well, Things ?

Sometimes rather ruffled when Things just go and, well, Happen ?

Sometimes feel confused one moment and completely baffled the next?

Mawson and friends look at his little books

It’s not easy being Grownup. All this business of having to be sophisticated and industrious all day long! It just wears you down. But when you arrive in Mawson’s cosy world, the frazzled reader can flop down among the cushions and relax.

Here you can find the answers to just about nothing at all. You can forget you ever had questions anyway.

Mawson writes little books that are not full of the answers to life. Or perhaps they are

Mawson and his friends are befuddled about most things most of the time – just like so many of us. And that’s all right.

She Ran Away From Love,is all about his friend Frilly feeling hopelessly baffled by Big Questions.

Frilly front cover.png

‘A brilliant children’s picture book that does well to pick you up from a bad day. Writing about love, dreams, happiness, and finding your own identity is all found within this short happy book.‘ Review on Amazon UK.

And in his first book, It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In , Mawson attempts to put into words that mysterious feeling of Feeling Lost.

35128781

“It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In” is a book about optimism, searching for new adventures and making the most of life and love’. Review on GoodReads by Debbie Young, author of the Sophie Sayer Mysteries.

Ready comparisons can be made to the giants of literary beardom, such as Paddington and Winnie the Pooh. Joey Madia.

Dreamy Days and Random Naps looks at the joys of naps, sleeps, snacks, hopes and dreams.

Mawson is a precious teddy  who should be a staple read on every little one’s bookshelf. He certainly has a home on ours.  I know he certainly inspired my own inner child. Lyndie, Bookaholic reviews. 

Our publisher is Odyssey Books. Look also at Bookshop Org (supporting local bookshops), at Amazon everywhere, at Booktopia, at Walmart, at AbeBooks, Mighty Ape (New Zealand), Google Books, at Booklubben and more. 

MakeShift Galaxy, by Tash Turgoose

Slipping love between the floorboards,
Catching stars as if they’re snow…

This book brings poetry to each page, including to the pages with no words. Perhaps by the twentieth read-through I may be able to summon words of my own sufficient to convey its lingering power. But I’m still looking at the story and illustrations together as presented. Then at the illustrations alone. Then the story alone.

In a world where their love is illegal, a young couple find a way to stay together — but one small moment could tear it all apart.

Hard cover book with beautiful illustrations. Makeshift Galaxy by Tash Turgoose

The haunting monochrome illustrations of this beautifully presented hardcover book could each stand framed on a wall. The style Makeshift Galaxy most brings to my mind is that of Shaun Tan. Like him, Turgoose uses both images with words, sometimes dispensing with words. What has happened? What does it all mean?  That is left for each reader to mull over in their own way.

It has the look of a coffee table book,and be warned: when you return with the steaming cuppa you may find your guest with book open, oblivious of you and staring far away. Into another galaxy, perhaps.

‘The silence screamed with stories left untold.’

Makeshift Galaxy an illustrated story about love, sacrifice and survival, is published by Odyssey Books.  It is stocked at major online retailers, including  Book Depository, and Amazon. Its free to see on Kindle Unlimited but this is a book you will want for real, on your bookshelf.

The creator tells more about herself at TashTurgoose.com.

You are in the blog of Mark, guardian and photographer for Mawson Bear, one of this bright world’s very few Writer-Bears. Mawson wrote It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In.