Book Review of Pocket Bear
The Children’s Book Review
Pocket Bear
Written by Katherine Applegate
Ages: 8+ | 272 Pages
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (2025) | ISBN: 978-1-250-90436-2
What to Expect: Family, toys, cats, friendship, caring for others.
Told from the point of view of the sassy, opinionated, and cool-as-cucumbers cat Zephyrina, Pocket Bear is magical, moving, and utterly absorbing.
Pocket Bear is a little toy bear, who was sewn to keep a soldier company at war. Zephyrina is a cat with a penchant for thievery. Together, they run the Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured—a sanctuary in which discarded toys can be restored and redistributed to new and loving homes. The toys enjoy their life at the sanctuary where they are cared for by two humans, refugees from war-torn Syria who, despite not knowing the toys can come to life, lavish them with love and care.
Then, one day, Zephyrina brings home a new recruit who is not quite like the others. Berwon is small, polite, and unassuming—but, according to the library book on antique toys that sits in the humans’ living room, he may well be the most valuable toy to ever be rescued: one of the first toy bears ever made, and worth thousands of dollars. His rescue could mean wealth, security, and proper medical treatment for the human refugees—but what will it mean for Berwon himself? Will his second chance be traded for theirs?
Zephyrina delivers the story with regal condescension and a complete lack of self-doubt that nevertheless fail to hide her soft side, making her an endearing and surprisingly insightful narrator, sure to be loved by any reader who has ever been close to a cat. The chapters are short and delivered in punchy sentences that give the story an urgency that draws readers in and makes it difficult to put the story down. Pocket Bear and his crew of toy recruits are an empathetic if woeful cast of characters, infusing the story with pathos and encouraging deep thought and discussion about what it means to have a home and a family.
Targeted primarily at a middle-grade audience, Pocket Bear is perfect for readers who treasure their toys, think deeply about love, and have the good sense to trust cats.
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About the Author
Katherine Applegate is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of beloved and award-winning books for young readers, including Pocket Bear, Odder, Home of the Brave, Crenshaw, Wishtree, Willodeen, and The One and Only Ivan, for which she won the Newbery Medal. She is also the author of the Animorphs series, a beginning reader series, Doggo and Pupper, illustrated by Charlie Alder, and the picture book Odder: An Otter’s Story, illustrated by Charles Santoso. Her middle-grade books, Dogtown and Mouse and His Dog, co-authored with Gennifer Choldenko, were also instant New York Times bestsellers. Katherine Applegate lives in Nevada with her family.
