A Teddy Bear for Emily—and President Roosevelt, Too

January 15, 2025
The true story of the Jewish immigrants who in 1902 created the beloved "Teddy's Bear." After Emily's parents, Morris and Rose, read a news story about how President Theodore Roosevelt spared the life of a wild bear on a hunting trip, the little girl helps her mother make a stuffed bear in his honor. Using velvet fabric, Emily stitches the seams while her mother tells the story of how Morris fled persecution in Russia for the United States. On the ship, he gave his treasured stuffed animal to a sad-eyed youngster, an act of compassion similar to the kindness that President Roosevelt showed to the bear. When Emily and her mother finish the toy, they call it Teddy's Bear and display it in the family's candy shop window. Soon kids all over Brooklyn--and indeed all over the country, including the president's own children--are cuddling teddy bears sewn by Emily and her mother. The illustrations are flat but cheerful, depicting expository moments that reflect the text. Images of the original Teddy's Bear himself are especially sweet. The characters are light-skinned; Emily's mother uses several Yiddish phrases, italicized and integrated into the dialogue. An author's note offers more context and clarifies that there's no evidence that Emily helped create the bear (though she may well have assisted). A sweet, straightforward story that stitches hope and kindness into the history of a very special toy.(Informational picture book. 4-7)

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February 1, 2025
Preschool-Grade 2 In 1902, nine-year-old Emily Michtom, whose Jewish parents had emigrated from Russia to New York City years earlier, watches her mother sew a new stuffed animal for the family's candy-and-toy shop. While Mrs. Michtom transforms velvet cloth into a new form, she tells Emily about a newspaper account of President Theodore Roosevelt's refusal to shoot a bear. Churnin points out that the first "teddy bear" was named after the president (commonly known as Teddy). When the stuffed animal is finished, Mr. Michtom displays it in his shop window but refuses to sell it without the president's consent. At Emily's suggestion, he writes to Roosevelt, asking for permission to use his name in selling the bear. The president sends his approval. Churnin manages the story-within-a-story well, reporting on a century-old anecdote and how it convinced a child that the president was a kind man. Kindness is a theme throughout the narrative. While the book is presented as nonfiction, an appended author's note is helpful in clarifying certain points. An attractive, appealing picture book.

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