By Matt Phelan
A small polar bear at school keeps politely saying he'd prefer not to, until the day he decides he would.
Bartleby is a polar bear cub in a red bowler hat, a necktie, and overalls, and at school he has one answer ready for circle time, music time, and free play: 'I prefer not to.' He's not being rude or difficult, he just doesn't want to, and he says so, again and again. When the class makes self-portraits, Bartleby finds his own way to join in without stopping being himself. And the next morning, when someone asks if he'd like to play, he has a new answer: 'I would like to.'
It gives words to something a lot of young children feel but can't explain: the wish to take part on their own terms and in their own time. Bartleby is never forced and never scolded, and nobody rushes him, so a child who hangs back at the edge of the group sees themselves treated with total respect. It's gentle and a little dry and completely unpreachy, and the ending lands because he comes around on his own.