This is a sort of true story, according to the author, and from what I remember of history, he has got the basics down. Teddy Roosevelt, who was president of the US, at the time, did not shoot a baby bear, and that inspired a toy maker to make toy versions of the bear, and name it after him, aka Teddy Bear.

What is cool is that the original cartoon of Teddy not shooting a bear is reproduced at the end of the book, so you can see what inspired the toy.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-18-at-9.21.39-AM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4743" />
<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-18-at-9.21.13-AM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4744" />

And that the president said it was ok to use his name on the bear.

A fun telling of this story, which bright pictures, and a cool sort of history book. Thought not 100% accurate, the author says we don’t know if the cartoonist offered a donut to the copy boy, the main part of the story is true, as far as we know.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This was a very good telling of a story I only half-knew. I'd long known that teddy bears were down to Teddy Roosevelt not shooting a bear on a hunt once, but I didn't know about the creative link that had to happen before the news transferred to the bear makers. There's still a part of the story not on these pages – that of rival bear producers, the lack of copyright on such things in those days, etc, but for a youthful read this strikes the right balance. It all boils down to an inspired – and inspiring – rags-to-riches tale, and one with so many cute outcomes.