Multicultural Book -"Nikolai, The Only Bear"

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Book Title:

Nikolai, The Only Bear

Author:

Barbara Joosse

Illustrator:

Renata Liwska

Type of Book:

Picture Book

Age Level:

8-12

My Star Rating:

***

Summary

• “Nikolai, The Only Bear” is a story about a young bear that lives in an orphanage in Russia. The bear is never understood, and never properly approached until a furry-faced man and a moon-haired woman come from America to take him home.

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My Thoughts

• This book is precious. I love the beautiful ending and the incredible illustrations. I am just so pleased with the touching story of the misunderstood, lonely bear being adopted and loved for who he is. I love these stories of hope, because I feel like so much of the time people are judged for their differences and not loved for them. Even in this book, Nikolai was judged while living in the orphanage, because people didn’t understand him, but finally, he finds love when the couple from America come and meet him at his level, not expecting to change him for them, just expecting to love him where he is at. It is a beautiful story that has a lot of parallels that could be brought into the classroom for further discussion. This book also leads to a lot of affective possibilities in classroom lessons.

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How to Use in the Classroom

• This book would be an awesome book to bring into the classroom, with the idea of addressing loving each other for our differences, this could be a great multicultural lesson. I imagine reading this book and explaining to my class how each one of us is different, and that it’s okay to be different, that everyone should be treated well and cared for, despite how they talk, or how they act. Then I would build on that, and have each child create a poster about themselves, with their favorite things, their heritage, and unique qualities. As a class we would go over each project and learn new things about each classmate, as well as, learn to appreciate all the differences that make our class whole, and wonderful.  

• This book could also be brought into the classroom, to talk about adoption, and what a great gift that is. Especially if you have adopted children in your classroom, or siblings of adopted children. I think it is important to help kids understand the complex ideas of adoption, and to answer any questions they may have. 

More Resources:

• For more information about Barbara Joosse, click here.
• For more information about Renata Liwska, click here.