The Bear Circle
Written by Ellen DeLange
Illustrated by Malgosia Zajac
About 'The Bear Circle'
When Little Teddy Bear receives an invitation to a secret meeting, he doesn’t hesitate and leaves right away. Upon arriving at the meeting place after a long journey, he’s surprised to see seven large bears around a campfire.
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The Bear Circle is more than just an educational story—it's a call to action to protect our precious wildlife for generations to come.
Age: 5+
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Story behind the story
One day, while on holiday, my friends took me to a garbage dump site in the middle of the woods. We weren't alone; many black bears were there, feasting on the leftovers humans had discarded. Seeing this made me realize the negative impact it could have on the bears' health, which inspired me to write a series of books about animals in need. What started as a single idea has since grown into a four-book series about Bears, Bugs, Birds, and Marine Life.
About the illustrator
Malgosia Zajac is a Polish illustrator. She live with her family in a very old Polish city called Krakow. This city is well known for it’s famous dragon (unfortunately not in good shape anymore) and for “Wawel” royal castle (still in very good shape).
She strongly believes that imagination is the most important thing in her artistic live. Her head is always full of all kind of creatures, imaginary friends, magical worlds and incredible storys. She uses her skills and different techniques to create nonexistent worlds on paper in her illustrations.
The shelves in her workshop are full of beautiful books, illustrated by her favorite artists from all over the world. She admires them and still learns something new from them. Malgosia dreams that one day, her illustrated books will be on someones favorite shelve too. https://www.instagram.com/bigdotillustrations
International publications
The Bear Circle is (will be) available in:
Dutch (2024)
English (2024)
Russian (2025)
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'Animals in need' series
This book is one in a series of four, each designed to inform and engage young readers in a playful way. The books explain how human activities negatively impact animal life, to the extent that it could even harm us humans in the future. Each of the four books includes four spreads of infographics, which provide parents with additional facts about the animals discussed in the book, helping to deepen the learning experience.
