This is a witty, charmingly illustrated story about a friendship between two bears and a birthday party they'd rather avoid. Gus and Boris are best friends. One day Gus confides that he feels gloomy because his birthday is coming and he's not looking forward to the party his family is planning for him. "My family always throws the worst parties," Gus explains. Boris suggests that they skip the party and go fishing instead, and that is what they do. Surprisingly, everyone is happy: the family celebrates Gus's birthday, barely noticing his absence, and Gus and Boris have a lovely day fishing on the river.

 

This book is aimed at children in secondary school.

This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2003 by Front Street Inc .

Husband-and-wife team Elle van Lieshout and Erik van Os write books, songs, and poetry for young children and beginning readers. Elle grew up with seven older siblings on a farm in a small village. Her first book, Mama komt toch altijd terug (Mommy Always Comes Back) published in 1993, was was about the death of her mother when Elle was six years old. Erik also grew up in a small village. His parents ran a pet shop and a nursery in which he and his three siblings were expected to help out. He always preferred to play soccer. Now Elle and Erik live with their daughter, son, and pets in Tilburg, The Netherlands.