The Red Fruit

by Lee Gi-eun

Baby Bear is off exploring on his own.
 
Tok!
 
Now what’s this that just hit his head? Mmmm …it’s a delicious red fruit. He must get more.
 
Up, up, up, to the top of the forest. Hello Caterpillar! Hello Squirrel! Hello Bees!
 
Now what is that ? Why, it’s the biggest red fruit of all! Baby Bear must have it. He leeeaaaps…
 
From award-winning Korean illustrator Lee Gee Eun comes a gorgeously illustrated story – delightful at every beat – about first discoveries and always landing in a safe place.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Food, Fiction, Humor

64 pages, Hardcover

Published November 28, 2023

About the author

Name in native: 이근

Reviews

[Emily]

Great for adults but not so great for kids

[Vika Reads Occasionally]

A simple book with a lot of character…this book has some pretty excellent comedic timing

[Abby]

Very cute, storytime thrills with a safe landing (thanks to mom)

[Sarah BT]

Levine Querido really has a wonderfully unique touch in discovering the most innovative picture books. The Red Fruit is illustrated in mostly black and white with a touch of red. There is minimal text. The art is expressive and is almost like a guessing game as bear tries to figure out where the red fruit is. There is a silly twist (or two!) and the overall book is sweet, and fun, and charming.

[Remy]

Really cute book. Not so great for storytime.

[Melanie Hetrick]

A bear cub is up before anyone else and heads out for a walk. The cup realizes it's hungry while sitting under a tree and at that moment a red Berry falls and hits it on its head. The cub eats the Berry and decides it wants more so begins to climb the tree. Encounter several different animals none of which are the source of the fruit. They climb clear to the top of the tree and upon seeing a very large red globe in the sky (the sun) tries to reach for it resulting in falling out of the tree. Down down down the cub falls and luckily is caught by Mama bear.

Interesting story The illustrations are cute until we see the full illustration of Mama bear. She looks quite odd.

[JenniferAustin]

What a lovely book! It's a perfect not-very-many words, read-in-a-lap book -- something for a reader who is also enjoying Eric Carle. It has some lovely moments of discovery, as our little bear climbs a tree and finds things that are not the fruit. The art is gorgeous. The words are simple, spare and perfect. This would be a lovely gift if you want to get a new parent or a young reader a new book that they may not already know.

[Dale Barlow]

(E) 12.10.2024: my spouse got this from the library, then ordered a copy because she liked this acclaimed S. Korean illustrator’s work so well; a beautifully illustrated story about first discoveries and always landing in a safe place. The black and white illustrations are delightfully enhanced with a few drawings with red fruit/red sky, culminating with talking about ‘yellow’ fruit, which this reader assumes means there is a yellow fruit follow-up book forthcoming (maybe not); a fun read; 2023 early reader hardcover via Madison County Public Library, Berea, 64 pgs.

[Elena L.]

THE RED FRUIT by Le Gee Eun is about a bear that gets a delicious red fruit and it decides to climb up the tall tree to get more. The story is simple, with the expressive black-white-and-red art, make it intuitive for young readers to grasp the message. Centering around first discoveries and safe place, this picture book is humorous, minimalist and fun.

[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Levine Querido . All opinions are my own ]

[Becky]

First sentence: Baby bear got up early, by himself. I am hungry.

Premise/plot: Baby bear has an adventure in a tree as he pursues a mysterious red fruit.

My thoughts: I love, love, love, love, love the illustrations. The story is super simple. What goes up must come down. There's something sweet and wonderful about the story. Yet it is not an exuberant story with over the top, exaggerated humor. It is more of a quiet adventure story.

[Caroline]

This is not the first picture book to take advantage of black, white, and red monochome, but this book does it really nicely. It is also one of the better digitally illustrated books I've seen this year. The text is simple and a little humorous, and the book design is really successful. These are great illustrations to read, and could definitely work as a read aloud.

[LS Johnson]

translated from Korean; a very cute picture book about an independent, curious bear that won't give up once it eats a delicious piece of red fruit. young readers will love predicting what "red" item the bear finds in its climb up the tall tree. and even after what appears to be a disaster, the little bear doesn't lose its curiosity.

[Cara Byrne]

"Ahhh! Did the bear die? Wouldn't the bear die if it fell from that tall, tall tree?"
While the black and white sketches of a black bear climbing a tree in pursuit of a delicious red fruit were beautiful, my kiddos didn't buy the bear being safe and sound at the end.

[Anna]

A book about a bear trying to find more of this delicious red fruit he found. He follows everything that is red and keeps getting disappointed.

SPOILERS AHEAD:


The bear finally gets more red fruit at the end but by mistake. A happy mistake.

[Molly Cluff (Library!)]

I thought this was cute--a bear climbs up the tree looking for more berries and eventually fall out of the tree. Not going to lie, I was worried he'd get seriously injured with how tall that tree is! Luckily he lands on his mama's belly and ends up ok. I liked the limited color palette.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin]

This story reads like a koan about the world of hunger, which might appeal to wee wisdom seekers with interminable desires for all those things just out of their reach. Unique drawings convey Baby Bear’s indomitable seeking spirit.

[Erin]

I can't get over the fact that the bear in this book survived that fall. Nope! I was also distracted by the placement of the words and the "going up" actually appearing in a downward way. I wanted the words to go up the page. I loved the art, though. It might have been better as a wordless book.

[June]

Not for me. Not much of a story.

A bear climbs a tree trying to find some fruit, then jumps at the red sun and falls. He is caught by his mother and then takes off looking for the yellow fruit that is now in the sky.

[N]

Glad that the bear's parent was there at the bottom of that 40+ foot drop otherwise the red would not have been fruit.

[Syntha Green]

Quite funny

[Jennifer]

The gutter got in the way

[kim]

okay

[Terresa Wellborn]

Themes: bears, fruit
Ages: toddler-1st grade
Pub year: 2023

[Rachel]

3.75 stars

[Danielle]

Adored this: gorgeous, suspenseful, inventive. Builds and bookends with just lovely art and text to make a compelling story.

[Julie Rowan-Zoch]

Great for storytime (we read RED-themed books) with great page turns and exciting revelations!

[Y.Poston]

very cute, great color exploration

[Viviane Elbee]

I love the illustrations in this book, that cleverly show a young bear’s quest for delicious red fruit.

[Melissa]

Love the black and white illustrations with slow introduction of red, then other joyful colors. Also loved the vertical text during a fall and the surprise at the end of the fall.

[Michelle Brosi]

Only okay