Katya and her Meema are spending another normal summer at their cottage in Alaska, when a chance accident leaves Katya face-to-face with the biggest creature she’s ever seen… an enormous kodiak bear, soon to become her closest friend. But when Katya must suddenly return home to Seattle, the two are torn apart, leaving Kodi to do whatever it takes to reunite with his fragile human friend.

This graphic novel was an unexpected five-star book that snuck into my top ten graphic novel list of 2023 at the last minute (read it in December). I absolutely loved this cute, adorable novel. The artwork is my favorite – watercolors and cartoony “bubble” illustrations. It’s gorgeous and reminded me of Disney or Pixar animation. The whole story played out like one of those types of animated movies. I had such a good time reading it. I read it on my library app, and now I want to buy a physical copy for my collection. I could see myself rereading this book a few times a year when I need a quick, cozy, and cute read. I can’t get over the artwork!! I took my time with it because it’s just stunning!

This story is about a friendship between a bear and a little girl, and it’s extremely heartwarming and heartfelt. There’s not a lot of text, and it focused on the artwork to tell the story, which I loved. This would be perfect for kids and new readers since there are minimal words. I loved all the characters and the adventure the bear went on to find the little girl when she had to leave after her summer break with her grandmother in the woods. 

It was a really quick read. I read it in about 20 minutes. It was very touching and hugged my heart. Highly, highly recommend!!