Barry Timms

Timms, Barry. This is NOT a Polar Bear!
January 7, 2025 by Nosy Crow
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

A little girl is playing in the snow and introduces us to her friend. He looks suspiciously like a polar bear, but she insists that he is not, and proceeds to inform us of all the things that he is. He roller skates, skis, drives, discos, and makes her laugh again and again. The two have many adventures, proving the bear is a save-the-world-together bear and a tunnel-deep-down-under bear, NOT a polar bear. She feels that the bear needs a special name, and decides to give him one based on his best quality-- a never-let-you-go-lar bear whose hugs are the best.

This is the third book in Timms’ series, which includes This is NOT a Dinosaur! and This is NOT a Unicorn! Young readers will be drawn to the repetitive nature of the story, and the fast paced rhymes that propel it. There are some clever liberties taken with language that make this an interesting look at identity. The little girl doesn't care that her friend is a polar bear; she loves him for who he is, and for the fun times together that they share.

The color palette is one of the most unusual and eye popping that I have seen. The use of fluorescent orange (which is evident on the bear's scarf on the cover of the book) for the little girl's hair is especially striking, and there are bright purple skies, neon pink sweaters, and bright yellow bumper cars. These are set against white backgrounds, which really make the colors pop, and almost vibrate. The winter wonderland with the fluorescent orange sled with snow covered Christmas trees with very bright ornaments alongside a pale purple castle is particularly vibrant.

It's good to have a funny, go-to picture book when little ones have a hard day, and I can see this being a big hit for fans of silly stories like Hale and Pham's Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn, Border's Peanut Butter and Cupcake, and Shea and Jarvis' Oh, Are You Awake?

Timms, Barry. The Sleepiest Sleep

August 19, 2025 by Nosy Crow

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Patterpaw, a young tiger cub, is having a sleepover with his grandtigers! Grandpa is very worried when Patterpaw starts to yawn that the ground will be too lumpy for his little sweetheart, but Grandma smiles and has the birds put together a soft bed. Grandpa is also afraid that Patterpaw will be afraid of the dark, but Grandma summons fireflies. An even bigger worry emerges when a storm blows up, but all of the animals in the jungle sing a song to lull Patterpaw back to sleep. The storm passes, and all of the animals snuggle down to "the sleepiest sleep", just like the listener is encouraged to do. 

Told in rhyming verse, this is a good story to allay fears when young children are sleeping in new places, hopefully one that are more prepared for their arrival. It's nicely rhythmic and repetitive, with comforting phrases like "croakiest croaks" and "squeakiest squeaks". This alone would go a long way toward negating questions about more drinks of water or blankets. 

Kukhtina's illustrations also encourage slumber, with their dark blue color palette and soothing yellow fireflies. The tigers are a great contrasting shade of orange. The text is sometimes a light purple or blue on darker shades, which might require some grandparents to turn up the lights a bit, but this book will probably be reread enough that it is memorized, so that shouldn't be a problem for long. 

It's good to scaffold new experiences by reading about them, so this would be a great gift for a new grandparent, perhaps along with a soft blanket. After several readings, little grand tigers should be ready to spend the night, especially since human grandparents are going to be more prepared with actual beds and a roof overhead in case of storms. This is a perfect choice for fans of Cummins and Oswald's Sleepy Sheep and the Sheepover or Ferneyhough's Nana, Nenek & Nina.

Most grandparents are more sentimental than I am and will find this to be delightful, but The Sleepiest Sleep didn't pass the Oma Test. The verse was a bit twee, and I expect my grandchildren to be a bit tougher than this. Also, after reading this, I would feel compelled to research where tigers really do sleep when it storms. I'm imagining it's not right out in the open with bears, mice, turles, and snakes gathered around.