Brother Hugo and the Bear

In this humorous and charming picture book, a monk struggles to return a library book because of a bear…with a taste for letters.

Brother Hugo can’t return his library book — the letters of St. Augustine — because, it turns out, the precious book has been devoured by a bear!

Instructed by the abbot to borrow another monastery’s copy and create a replacement, the hapless monk painstakingly crafts a new book, copying it letter by letter and line by line. But when he sets off to return the borrowed copy, he finds himself trailed by his hungry new friend. Once a bear has a taste of letters, it appears, he’s rarely satisfied.

Brother Hugo and the Bear is loosely based on a note found in a 12th-century manuscript — and largely on the creative imaginings of author and historian Katy Beebe. Lavishly illustrated by S. D. Schindler in the style of medieval manuscripts, this humorous tale is sure to delight passionate readers who have acquired their own taste for books.