Bear Hair

by Jeff Mack

In this hilarious and ingeniously simple picture book from Jeff Mack, readers will meet a bear, a hare, and some hair, which is very hard to share.

A fuzzy brown bear and a fluffy pink hare disagree. About hair. Neither wants to go bare! Can they share?

With a few words used masterfully, and vivid, expressive art, author illustrator Jeff Mack has created a pure delight of a picture book.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Animals, Rabbits, Storytime, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

Published June 30, 2026

About the author

Born in Syracuse, New York, Jeff Mack has written and illustrated a long list of picture books, chapter books, and early readers, including Clueless McGee, Good News Bad News, Frog and Fly, the Hippo and Rabbit series, and Hush Little Polar Bear.

He has also illustrated many books for other authors, including James Howe's Bunnicula and Friends series and Eve Bunting's Hurry! Hurry!, one of School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2007.

At home in Easthampton, Massachusetts, he continues to write, illustrate, and visit schools and libraries to talk about his work. Visit him at www.jeffmack.com.

Bio taken from Jeff's website: http://www.jeffmack.com/short_biograp....
More biographical information can be found at http://www.jeffmack.com/biography.html.

Reviews

[Jesse]

My kiddo can read, but getting her to read out loud can be challenging! This book, though, had her giggling and reading out loud to me. I was especially impressed she did so given the plays on identical sounding words. The illustrations were a great support when needed. It’s fun, it’s eye-catching, and it’s deceptively simple; all of which we loved!

Thank you to Macmillan for a copy to consider!

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*]

Bear Hair by Jeff Mack. PICTURE BOOK. Henry Holt (Macmillan), JULY 2026. $19. 9781250409676
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Bear/bare Hair/hare - Mack uses basically four words and cute illustrations to give us a full story of two friends. A fun way to teach homophones and the interplay between word and illustration in a picture book.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

[Cheryl Gladfelter]

Loved the illustrations, felt like they had a lot of movement and energy to them. The endpapers have bear's fur at the beginning and hare's fur at the end, which was a cute touch. This would be great if you were reading to a grade school class where they'd be seeing the words as you read aloud. It's really humorous for the homophones, but wouldn't work for my usage of storytimes for preschoolers or younger.

[Bookworm4Life]

I prefer books to have more of a story than just short rhyming sentences. it might be a good book for younger kids just learning how to read but honestly there was nothing interesting that happened and it kind of fell flat. Had a good message about sharing but other than that there's nothing to say about it.

[Roben]

Nine words + Homonyms, rhyming, and repetition = a fun book about a bear, a hare, and some hair in the form of a bright, blue wig. Perfect for a bare head.
There's discovery, delight, conflict, reconciliation, agreement, and joy - achieved with just nine words and some very creative wordplay.

A really fun book! Be sure to peek under the dust jacket.

[Kelly]

This book is basically a copy of Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett, which was original when she made it. This book even ends with "there" which is how her book ends. I don't like that this book is a copy.

[Erin]

The illustrations are irresistible. The story is cute and fun with good word reinforcement for youngest readers. For all the fun of the rest of the book, the very end was a little disappointing, but I smiled so much throughout the rest, I couldn't "bear" to dock a star from my rating.

[Rachel]

A fun rhyming book that uses only a few words. A fun read aloud for rhyming ST or even a Bear ST. Bright images and short story.

[Ailish O’Sullivan]

Bear hair on a bare hare!? What a whacky language.

[Y.Poston]

cute homonym and rhyming book!

[Emily Howard]

Cute, good for a baby time program.

[Sheri]

Simple book and concept about animal fur and a wig on rabbit and bear and sharing the hair.

[Terresa Wellborn]

Themes: bears, rabbits, hair, humor, friendship
Ages: toddler-1st grade
Pub year: 2026

[Gigi]

A fun book with sparse text. Would make an entertaining book to show homophones.

[Alyssa Mandell]

The perfect storytime book. A play on the words bear, bare, hair, and hare.

[Mckinley]

Fun word play

[Andres Muñoz]

Apparently AI didn't make this.

[Lindsay]

This was really cute. The vibrancy and color choice was also stunning.

[Ann]

Cute illustrations but not a lot of plot. homonyms and plays on words. Better for a lapsit or older child.

[DaNae]

Fun with Homophones and a very punk wig.

[Lori]

Clever. Fun.

[Karen]

Great for reinforcing homophones!
Cute illustrations!

[Marcia]

A funny book that will tickle young children and introduce homonyms.

[Maeve]

A bear and a hare alternate between wearing hair and being BARE!

Better for older children who understand homonyms (grades K-2).