With just 27 words, the inimitable Ruth Krauss created a charming little universe. Now Maurice Sendak has turned her bears into a troupe of players in a slapstick comedy starring a familiar boy in a wolf suit.

When Otter starts a school, Teddy becomes sad because the other students are all good at something and it seems he is not.

"It's Love Day and Paddington is delivering cards to all his friends when a great gust of wind turns his plans upside down"--

"The four bears are determined to reach Great Bear Lake before the longest day gathering, but when Lusa is separated from the others, she faces difficult questions about her future"--

Paddington introduces the concept of antonyms when he basks in the sun and shivers in the cold, faces front and back, and opens and closes a box filled with marmalade jars.

"A child's favorite stuffed animal is a member of the family. This little girl and her bear are no different. The two are inseparable. Bear joins the girl for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every moment in between. So when the first day of school arrives and Bear can't come along, the little girl is worried. At first, being in school feels hard, but as the day goes on, the girl finds ways to make herself feel better. This reassuring story, which is...

"That's just silly!" said his sister. "Bears don't read!" George isn't happy doing the usual bear things like chatting and fishing. But what else is there? Then one day, he finds a book beneath a tree and knows... More than anything he wants to learn to read! But, arriving in town, George soon discovers that it's not easy to be a bear at school! If only he could find someone to teach him the alphabet and change his life forever... Perhaps a little...