On All Fours

A bear cub sets out to discover the world--with a little encouragement from a nearby parent--in this charming picture book from the author-illustrator of New York Times Best Illustrated Book Bear Despair

The best way to explore the world is on all fours! With its four little paws, a curious bear cub dances across pebbles, feels the tickling grass, splishes and splashes in puddles. So delightful are the curious cub's encounters that even prickly weeds or a little tumble are just part of the fun!

From sensory experience to sensory experience, the bear cub goes on a journey of discovery and surprise that leads it far away from where it started. Perhaps even too far away? Help!! But the moment of panic is soon resolved when the cub is lifted up by two loving arms into a big hug from a parent.

​From acclaimed author-illustrator Gaëtan Dorémus, a charming, brightly colored picture book about exploration, play, budding independence, and security.


Author: Gaëtan Dorémus
Publisher: Enchanted Lion
Published: 01/21/2025
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.57lbs
Size: 8.98h x 7.24w x 0.39d
ISBN: 9781592703883
Audience: Ages 4-8


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/04/2024
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2025

About the Author
Born in 1971, Gaëtan Dorémus received his degree from the School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg, France. Once out in the world, he picked up a few other degrees while creating picture books and illustrations for the press. Dorémus has illustrated more than 25 books and has produced hundreds of editorial illustrations and cartoons. He loves bicycle riding, walking in the mountains, eating green tomatoes with cinnamon, and being a papa. Dorémus's Bear Despair was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2012. Growing up in a French-Chinese American family, Emilie Robert Wong attended school in the French national education system before studying comparative literature and neuroscience at Harvard College. She is an associate editor at Enchanted Lion, as well as the co-translator, with Karin Snelson, of You Can't Kill Snow White (shortlisted for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative's Translated YA Book Prize) and At the Drop of a Cat (a Kirkus Best Book of 2023 and a NYPL Best Children's Book of 2023).