I love it when we stumble upon a new author. At the very start of this blog, I wrote about our new found love of Amy Krause Rosenthal. It was until this week, that we felt the same surge of new love. I have read Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s books for years but somehow hadn’t put them together as a collection until just a few days ago. And it isn’t until you look at her work as a whole that you realize how very talented Seeger is.

Katherine became enthralled with the Dog and Bear books first. We began with our own copy of Dog and Bear: Two Friends Three Stories

and then nearly immediately had to leave for the library to find Dog and Bear: Two’s Company 

and Dog and Bear: Three to Get Ready

I have read reviews of these books comparing them to some of literature’s greatest friends, Frog and Toad and George and Martha. Few can hold a candle to these pairings but I must agree that Dog and Bear are keeping their own. You can feel their companionship rising up from the pages.

What makes Laura Vaccaro Seeger such a great author is her ability to write these charming Dog and Bear books with the same hand that writes the thought provoking and amazingly artistic books like Lemons Are Not Red

Black? White? Day? Night?

and Walter Was Worried

My four and seven year old were equally taken in by each of these books, answering the near riddles posed on page after page before admiring the artistic vision that created each spread. With the days upon days of snow and ice that have resulted in more delayed openings, early dismissals and snow days than I care to count, a new author has been a welcome distraction. That being said though, Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s writing and art work will be admired in this house, long after the ice and snow have melted. If they ever do melt…