Coco

by Marie-Paule Mahoney

A tango between fiction and nonfiction, Marie-Paule Mahoney's Coco, about an orphaned bear cub struggling to learn how to become a free, wild bear is a delight for readers of all ages. The very young readers will enjoy the beautiful full-page illustrations. The older ones will relish reading about Coco's first hibernation with her adopted family in a cave full of bats; a sweet reunion with her canine friends, and many other adventures as she matures and eventually has a family of her own. Even parents will appreciate retired teacher Mahoney's fascinating story of interspecies friendship. Experiencing adoption, stepfamilies, bullying, and moving away from friends, Coco offers a unique mirror of readers' own lives. This sweet but realistic tale of survival opens a window to the intricate world of wild and domesticated animals.

98 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2018

About the author

Marie-Paule Mahoney is a former educator who was born and raised in Brittany, France, and now lives in the foothills of New York State. Throughout her career, she authored two books on learning French.

After retiring, Marie-Paule’s interest for nature and wildlife deepened, inspiring her to write for children. Her first children’s book, “Molly and Babou,” was co-written with her husband, veterinarian James Mahoney. In her later works, she highlights the uniqueness of animals and the beauty of the natural world.

Reviews

[Mrs Rj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful book for children based on the adventures of an orphan bear and her journey to adulthood. There are some lovely moments in the book, for example, when she first sees other cubs playing and finds a new mama bear. Her relationships with a male bear who rescues her and some domestic dogs are quite touching at times. There are some great illustrations and a few actual photographs throughout the book which really enhance the story. I would imagine it would be suitable for a child 7+ although some of the technical language may be a little challenging.

However, the author has tried to merge fiction and non-fiction and it doesn’t always work. There is a lot that the reader can learn about bears by reading the book, especially about hibernation, habitat and diet which is included quite naturally, but then there is the inclusion of a ‘canine cardiologist’ which seems to go beyond the level necessary for the intended reader. Also while some information included is based on fact, other parts of the story which have the bears interacting with humans are not, which at times make the story seem a little confused as to its purpose.

Overall, though, I think most children would love this story and find themselves immersed in the world of the little bear.

[Rachel Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coco follows two bears, adult bear Babou and little bear Coco, on their adventure as they search for a mama bear to take care of Coco and teach her what she needs to know to survive in the wild. There are many aspects of this book that are likely to appeal to young readers. For example, Coco is a very sweet character and lots of different types of animals make an appearance, such as mountain lions and dogs. The attention paid to animals and nature makes this book well-suited to children who love exploring the natural world. As the central characters are bears, the narrative touches on important parts of a bear’s life, like hibernation. Some readers may dislike the way the book moves back and forward between a whimsical approach to anthropomorphising the animals and a more realistic approach to depicting animal behaviour. On a similar note, the artwork scattered throughout the book varies between naturalistic animal photography and imaginative illustrations. So while this may be jarring for some readers, others may find this approach helps them to relate to the characters. The wording/formatting of certain sentences can be confusing, so this story probably isn’t well-suited to unconfident readers.

[T. Vand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute book that blended in nonfiction aspects of different animals such as bears, foxes, herrons, etc. in a fictional story. I loved the water color illustrations and blend of pictures of the animals, especially the action shots. This would definitely be a book for grades 3-4, maybe grade 2 depending on the reader. I also loved the fact that Coco was an orphaned Bear.

One thing I personally didn't like was the inconsistency of nonfiction vs fiction when it came to the lives of the animals. For example, bears are solitary animals. Male bears and female bears are notorious for getting into fights when it comes to protecting cubs. But the interaction in the Dada bears (with the bear troop) wouldn't be accurate for the most part. Yet other factual information is also blended in. Consistency would be great especially for younger students.