Book Review of “The Bear Whispers to Me: The Story of a Bear and a Boy”

Title: The Bear Whispers to Me: The Story of a Bear and a Boy

Author: Ying-Tai Chang

Translator: Darryl Sterk

Where the book was published first: China

Version Publisher: Balestier Press, Edition 1 (May 15, 2015)

Pages: 184 Pages

When I read this book, The Bear Whispers to Me: The Story of a Bear and a Boy, I honestly didn’t really know what to expect with the novel. I had known a little about the basics of what the novel was about and even further that it was originally published in China. What unfolded, as I read the novel was this super touching piece of literature about the testament of tradition, the value of having memories, but more importantly the power of cultural identity. To me the core of the story is the bond between the father and son and what happens when you lose the way of life, but even further it’s about the connection of others.

The introduction of the novel starts with a boy who is very lonely and starts to uncover his father’s past with the help of different scrapbooks that happen to be filled with many different drawings and a diary that has captions of proverbs. More importantly to the story that I saw that was one of the core and most important elements of the story happens to be this parallel to the box of keepsakes and memories of the past to the imaginary world that the boy creates for himself. What I loved most about this novel is that idea of taking the past and all its memories and making it into this complex and dynamic world. To me, the author hits that right on the nail. Even deeper, he even connects it to the boy’s great grandfather, Momo.

What I think that the novel does so right is the great grandfather’s spirit that lingers in the novel. Momo obviously meant so much to the boy and his father, and family is a huge ideal within in the novel, but Momo is such an important family member in their lives. He is not only the great grandfather, but he’s a watcher over them. The novel states that, “Father calls him Grandpa. Father’s grandfather only appears in human form in the night, on this page of the album. But he is in other pictures, too, as a ray of light, a gust of wind, a leaf or a glimmering moonshadow” (Chang, 23). This is where I can see the author bouncing between reality and fantasy, which I would say is perfectly balanced in the novel. The great grandfather being this symbol of light, or wind, or this moonshadow is just a testament to how much the grandfather is transcended to the boy and what he means as a person to the family.

Furthermore , The Bear Whispers to Me: The Story of a Bear and a Boy isn’t just about the importance of family and all of the memories and history of its past, but also Chang gets to touch on another aspect and that’s one that relates to her home country: Taiwan. Chang first paints a beautiful picture of this actual journey the boy goes on through the woods and all the animals he encounters. However, even further the novel depicts the great grandfather’s past and history in this magical world, but shows the realism of history. It does this by showing Momo and his experiences of Taiwanese people who are being assimilated into the Chinese culture. Now, Chang is of Taiwanese decent and I feel this is a touching stone about the past and the assimilation into Chinese culture they did. Even further, Chang writes something more to highlight the background of her cultural heritage. Throughout the novel, Chang adds in points where the boy reflecting on his journey and where he comes from stumbles upon some melodies of ritual songs that were sung by many warriors thousands of years ago. These Taiwanese verses are spread out throughout the novel and eventually the boy who even states that he doesn’t know the language, but states that he understands what they mean.

I think this was to put in the novel as a way to represent the appreciation of your values and making sure you value the traditions of yourself, your family, and also your culture. What I appreciated so much from this aspect of the novel, but even more is this importance of your culture and where you come from. I think this sends a fantastic message to the kids out there to never forget where you come from. Especially in this day and age when people’s values get less and less important as kids grow up today, a bit of perspective and history about your family and the people of your heritage and culture remain as something that should be valued and looked at for generations and generations to come.

I see this novel as a great work of literature about the love between family, the importance of where you come from, and the connection between others and what they leave behind. Chang depicts this fantastic world that no matter where you come from, you simply can relate to it and the themes that are explored throughout the novel. Overall, I couldn’t be happier this novel was translated to English so that had the capability to read it.

Works Cited:

Chang, Ying-Tai. The Bear Whispers to Me: The Story of a Bear and a Boy. Balestier Press, 2015.