Smart Stuffies. Smart Stories. Smart Kids.™
PATENT PENDING
Genius you can read… and hug.
The Stuffie Book™ series reimagines history's greatest minds as brave, huggable teddy bears in richly illustrated keepsake books, each paired with the plush bear who stars in the story.
Welcome to
The Stuffie Book Series
Time-traveling pilot Amelia Bearhart flies her shiny red airplane through the ages, bringing together history's greatest artists and scientists for adventures that reveal the shared truth at the heart of their life's work.
Every page is illustrated in the featured artist's own painterly style: swirling Van Gogh skies, Vermeer's golden light, Seurat's shimmering dots. Written for children ages 4-9 and the grownups who read beside them, each book stands alone. Together they grow into a collection of the most remarkable minds who ever lived.
Enter this astonishing world of renowned artists, scientists, and adventurers, reimagined as time-traveling teddy bears. Come see for yourself how different ways of seeing so often reveal the same truth.
Discover the magic when art and science meet heart and kindness.
The Book Series at a Glance
The Great Vincent van Bear
by Elyse Cook (Author) - Paperback & eBook
A luminous bedtime story about three geniuses and the search for what matters most: kindness, beauty, and truth.
“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
Amelia Bearhart’s time-traveling plane has one destination tonight: a moonlit hospital in Southern France, where the world’s greatest artist needs a friend. Join three geniuses on a quest for what matters most: kindness, beauty, and truth.
-Vincent van Gogh
“Ideal for budding artists and scientists.”
-The Children’s Book Review
Darwin and Cézanne Go Galápagos
by Elyse Cook (Author) - Paperback & eBook
A tender read-aloud for ages 4-9 in the style of Cézanne, tailor-made to inspire curiosity in the minds of young girls and boys and the adults who raise them.
“Art is harmony parallel with nature.”
-Paul Cézanne
When Amelia Bearhart flies Paw Cézanne straight into the teeth of a volcanic storm, she sets him down on a wild island shore — where a curious young bear named Bearlie Darwin is about to change the way the whole world sees itself.
“Ideal for young naturalists, budding artists, and anyone who has looked hard at the same thing twice.”
-The Children’s Book Review
Meet Bearhart
Inspired by the pioneering spirit of the real-life aviation trailblazer Amelia Earhart, Bearhart is the heart of The Stuffie Book Series—a curious explorer who believes every great adventure begins with a question.
Driven by courage, imagination, and a love of discovery, Bearhart invites young readers to explore the worlds of science, art, history, and creativity through unforgettable adventures inspired by history's greatest minds. Along the way, she reminds children that kindness, curiosity, and the courage to ask questions are often the first steps toward making a difference.
No matter where the journey leads, Bearhart is always ready for the next adventure—and hopes you'll come along.
Meet the Author
"Creating this series taught me that a small idea can grow into something much bigger if you follow your curiosity. I love how an idea can evoke the creative spirit to actually go build it. I hope readers come away excited to ask their own questions, try their own ideas, and one day paint their own masterpiece.” - Elyse
Elyse Cook is a high school student from Princeton, New Jersey, and the creator of The Stuffie Book, a children’s series that reimagines history’s greatest artists and scientists as adventurous teddy bears.
The idea began after she sold handmade stuffed animals at a ninth-grade craft fair and imagined pairing a children’s story with a bear readers could make themselves. What started as an idea for one book and a toy grew into a series exploring the curiosity, imagination, and ways of seeing that artists and scientists share.
Elyse has always loved exploring where her ideas take her, from sewing her own clothes to building with wood and cardboard. Outside of writing and creating, she trains for triathlons and half marathons and finds inspiration in the clear, blue waters of Lake George, New York, surrounded by the green-forested Adirondack Mountains.
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Book Reviews
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When Albear and Amelia Bearhart climb into her time-traveling red plane, they aren't chasing a flight record. They're on a rescue mission of the heart. Their destination is the mental hospital where Bearhart's friend Vinny van Bear has checked himself in, weighed down by a private conviction that he is nothing but a failure. Under the care of Dr. Rey, Vinny is safe, but far from soothed. It takes Albear's visit—and his sudden, startled recognition that Vinny's swirling canvases capture the very same truths as his own equations—to begin turning the tide. Through tender dialogue and Albear's quiet insistence that his genius will one day be recognized, the two friends help Vinny glimpse a future in which his work is cherished, and his vision is finally understood.
Vinny's despair over his art and friendships is handled with warmth rather than heaviness, and the hospital setting is treated matter-of-factly as a place of care rather than shame, making the story a comforting entry point for discussing sadness and self-doubt. The text draws on a wealth of poetic imagery—Rilke's writing on blue, for instance—letting poetic, scientific, and painterly truths speak to one another across time. The lyrical, paragraph-driven prose offers older readers a text that is both challenging and enjoyable, while still giving the book read-aloud rhythm. Closing notes on the yellow house, Rilke's blue, and special relativity help curious readers start learning more about the real history of these characters.
A one-of-a-kind picture book, The Great Vincent van Bear is ideal for budding artists and scientists, as well as anyone who has doubted whether their work matters.
—The Children's Book Review
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By learning about art and science, children can better appreciate the wonders around them. This also arouses their curiosity and interest in trying new things, which is why they need to learn about the historical figures who have shaped art and science. To guide young readers in this direction, we have The Great Vincent van Bear by Elyse Cook. The story begins one night with Amelia Bearhart, a time-traveling pilot, and Albear, a great scientist. They fly in a bright red airplane until they reach a wheat field in southern France. There they meet Vincent van Gogh, who is painting. To Albear's surprise, he sees a mathematical equation in the painting and thinks of waves in space and the curvature of light, while the painter sees dreams, energy, and mystery. These two perspectives aren't in conflict. Instead, they complement each other, allowing a great friendship and mutual understanding to blossom between them.
Elyse Cook shares a heartwarming story about how different perspectives can come together. She shows children that science and art help them to view complex concepts in different ways and that there's always something new to learn. In addition, her characters are great role models because they're kind and caring. That's why I think this book is perfect for sharing a warm moment between parents and children. I enjoyed the storytelling because the author uses short sentences that are perfect for children learning to read while still using a rich vocabulary. I also loved the illustrations, which feature bright colors and an aesthetic like The Starry Night. The Great Vincent van Bear will teach young readers the value of following their dreams despite the challenges.
—Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews and Award Contest
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Book Two of The Stuffie Book series trades Vinny van Bear's asylum room for open sky and shifting earth. Where Book One paired a scientist's equations with a painter's grief, this volume pairs two kinds of patience: Paw's willingness to paint one mountain for three decades, and Bearlie's insistence on sketching the same rock face until its strata make sense.
Time-traveling pilot Amelia Bearhart drops Paw Cézanne—mid-brushstroke on his thirtieth attempt at the same mountain—just ahead of an oncoming storm, setting him down on a rocky shore. There he meets Bearlie Darwin, a young bear with a rock hammer and a habit of sketching the same outcropping again and again, not to capture its likeness but to map what lies beneath it. Their quiet kinship develops more deeply as they share their dreams and thoughts aboard the H.M.S. Beagle and then in the abundant nature of the Galapagos Islands. While Bearlie's patient eye, trained on rock and now on beak and tail, begins to notice a pattern only careful looking can reveal, Paws comes to recognize the true value of his own close observation of the mountain he paints.
Both bears seek what's underneath the surface—helping readers draw connections between the techniques of art and those of science. The Cézanne-inspired illustration style breaks the landscape into faceted planes of color, mirroring the way the real Cézanne built form from patches of paint, as well as echoing Darwin's geological and biological insights about time. Dialogue carries most of the story, brisk and readaloud ready, and the series' time-traveling pilot returns as a thread connecting one bear's history to the next.
Contemplative and reflective, The Stuffie Book: Darwin and Cézanne Go Galápagos is ideal for young naturalists, budding artists, and anyone who has looked hard at the same thing twice.
—The Children's Book Review
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"I seek the force behind the mystery—the world behind the world."
Paw Cézanne and Amelia Bearhart share a whimsical friendship, reflected in their shared passions for art and flight. Amelia rescues Paw from an incoming storm by flying him to a beach near a mountain. There, Bearlie (Bearles Darwin) explains to Paw that his map drawing represents the landscape's geology. The tale quickly shifts from scene to scene because of inclement weather and an earthquake, leading artist Paw far from home. Bearlie invites Paw aboard HMS Beagle for a jaunt to the Galapagos Islands and describes his curiosity about the natural world on the voyage.
The pair revel in the scenery and the diversity of flora and fauna on the Galapagos Islands. "I feel the force holding the brush, don't you see?" Bearlie spreads his arms wide as if to encompass all he sees. Bearlie sketches his most profound thoughts for Paw about what he calls the "chain of life." In response, Paw unfocuses his eyes and feels connected to the butterfly he gazes upon.
The advanced concepts presented throughout the tale are made clear for children through the eyes and thoughts of the appealing historical characters. The lyrical prose and wordplay support the fanciful artistry of the illustrations and the deeply moving prose that make this book a collector's item for picture book enthusiasts and art lovers alike. Definitely a read-aloud for younger children because of the advanced vocabulary and concepts, the narrative will spark questions and provide answers in an enjoyable learning experience about the real lives of naturalists and artists portrayed by charming plush teddy bears, or as Cook calls them, "stuffies." The story will be equally embraced by adult readers for the philosophical discovery of the harmonious ways that artists, scientists, and curious minds of all types explore and perceive the world.
—Kate Robinson (The US Review of Books)