Identify this children's book

October 29, 2012 5:18 PM

Asking for a friend: "I read a book when I was very young, a fantasy story for kids, that featured a character called Airy Bear, who would inflate himself and thus leap and bounce about. I cannot remember the name of this book and I really, *REALLY* want to know what it is. Help? The internet (or at least my search-term-crafting-fu) is failing me."
posted by kilo hertz to writing & language (4 answers total)

Hmm. Any chance that the book was one of the tie-in books with the cartoon show Adventures of the Gummi Bears? I don't remember an Airy Bear, but it's been a long time.
posted by studioaudience at 5:35 PM on October 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

A little more info might help. In what decade was your friend very young, for example? That would help narrow down a publishing window. Was Airy Bear the main character in the story, or was he one of many? Was it a picture book, or text-heavy? Any more details at all about the plot or other characters would be useful.
posted by Brody's chum at 10:15 PM on October 29, 2012

"No, it was not a cartoon book nor related to the Gummi Bears in any way.

I was very young in the 70s. Airy Bear was the sort of guide character, a bit White Rabbit-esque in what I recall as a somewhat surreal story (although I hesitate to credit my memories from that age too much). It was a story book with a lot of text, with occasional full-page black and white pen and ink illustrations. There was a large tree that figured centrally and I believe the protagonist was a little boy in a strange world."
posted by kilo hertz at 6:39 AM on October 30, 2012

This may not be it but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Bear in the Air by Susan Meyers

When a teddy bear is lost by the child who loves him, the bear begins an amazing journey to get back home again. From swimming in the ocean with the fish, to flying in the sky with the gulls, to being found by a sailor, and then being carried off by the wind, the bear meets new friends and travels to many places he never dreamed of.

Reminiscent of such classics as The Velveteen Rabbit and the award-winning Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, this tender picture book with beautiful seaside imagery will capture readers’ hearts with the bear’s summer adventure as he gets back home where he belongs.

http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Air-Susan-Meyers/dp/0810983982

In the meantime, I'm still looking.
posted by pikachuFL at 6:17 AM on March 13