A huge bear is wandering through the forest - but wait a minute Who's that he's hugging? A beaver? And a moose? And a bird? And a tree?Welcome to the world of "Big Bear Hug," a contemporary fable about a bear who has an appetite for hugging everything in sight - even creatures that bears have been known to eat. One day, the benevolent bear meets up with a human. This human proceeds to do something the bear cannot understand: he raises his axe and begins to cut down a tree. Suddenly the bear doesn't feel like hugging anymore and must make a difficult decision on how to stop this destruction in his forest.The environmental message of "Big Bear Hug" is both funny and powerful, while simple enough to engage very young children and show them the awesome power of a hug.

尼古拉斯

加拿大知名童装公司Hatley的创意总监，给孩子的睡衣画了近十年图案，深谙如何驾驭孩子的兴趣点，再加上大学主修艺术的专业背景，让他打下图画书创作的深厚根基。完成《大熊抱抱》后，他忐忑不安地送交出版社，结果得到莫大的成功与肯定。

这给了他很大的激励，因此开始用同样的技法创作他的第二本图画书《让麋鹿理解生活》(Making the Moose Out of Life)。书中讲述一只生活在野外但行为举止一点儿都不够野的麋鹿的故事，它也是大熊的好朋友——《大熊抱抱》里被大熊拥抱过的那只。

尼古拉斯创作的大熊和麋鹿十分讨孩子喜欢，在许多国家出版。除了作品的精彩之外，他也许还有一点优势于其他图画书作者——从Hatley的网站(www.hatleystore.com)中可见，尼古拉斯作品中的许多形象都隐藏在他设计的睡衣、水杯、袜子……上，进入千家万户，融入孩子们的生活。对于他而言，不管是Hatley的作品，还是自己的图画书作品，他都付出了一样的爱。也正是基于这样的爱，才能够让我们在欣赏他的作品时，幽默之余细细品味其中的内涵。