The Bear Who Wasn't There: And the Fabulous Forest

A magical, lyrical picture book debut from acclaimed composer and playwright Oren Lavie, illustrated by beloved German illustrator Wolf Erlbruch.

One day, a few minutes after Once Upon a Time, a bear awakes to find he has lost something very important: himself! He sets out into the Fabulous Forest to find himself, using only a few clues scrawled on a piece of paper: the bear he's looking for is a nice bear; he is a happy bear; and he's very handsome too! These sound like pretty good qualities to Bear, and so begins his memorable journey. With the help of Fabulous Forest critters like the Convenience Cow, the Lazy Lizard, and the Penultimate Penguin, Bear finds that he himself is just what he's been looking for all along: a nice, happy bear—and handsome too!

As whimsical as Winnie-the-Pooh and as wryly comic as Klassen's bear who wants his hat back, The Bear Who Wasn't There joins a select crew of unusual bears who have captured the imagination of children for generations.

Wolf Erlbruch is one of Germany's most renowned illustrators; his work is respected and loved around the world. Among his many awards, Erlbruch received both the Gutenberg and the German Children's Literature Award, as well as a Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award. His previous book, Duck, Death and the Tulip, sold more than 100,000 copies and was published in nineteen countries.

Oren Lavie is a composer, musician, and playwright. His debut album, The Opposite Side of the Sea, was released worldwide to critical acclaim. The music video for "Her Morning Elegance" was nominated for a Grammy and became a YouTube hit with over twenty-five million views. Lavie's song "A Dance 'Round the Memory Tree" was featured in Disney's film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. He currently lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.