Bear and Wolf by Daniel Salmieri

A young bear meets a young wolf in the winter forest. There is no suspicion, no aggression, no predator and prey - just a special meeting of two wild creatures and the forming of a new friendship.

The language in this book is utterly exquisite:

"When Bear got closer, she could see it was a young wolf.
She could see the wolf's pointy snout, smooth gray fur, golden eyes, and wet black nose.
When Wolf got closer, he could see it was a young bear.
He could see the bear's big round head, soft black fur, deep brown eyes, and wet black nose."

"Bear and Wolf smelled the wet bark of the trees and heard the small sounds the snowflakes made on their fur."

Our new friends pause to enjoy the way the snowflakes are all different, the look up and see a beautiful owl watching them and then they cross an ice lake and scrape away the snow so they can see the sleeping fish suspended below the frozen surface.

After watching the fish the pair now need to part company. Bear needs to hibernate and Wolf needs to rejoin his pack and continue the hunt.

Seasons come and go. In summer grass and leaves grow and birds return to the forest. One day our two friends meet again and they continue their walk.  "Bear and Wolf walked through the gentle breeze, using their eyes, and ears, and noses to take in the awakening woods."

When I picked up this book I flipped through a few pages and saw the beautiful pencil illustrations. You can see the fish illustration above. The illustrator has made some illustrations look like images from a colouring book. I just wanted to stroke them and feel the pencil textures.

Here is a blog post from Seven Impossible Things where you can see more of the art from this book and view a video where Daniel Salmieri talks about his book. Kirkus gave this book a star review.

His text is wonderful, but it's truly those silent moments between the bear and the wolf––when Bear and Wolf are staring at fish together, or when the two first meet––that carry most of the emotional weight of the story. Despite the dark skies and the dark fur coats, the colors are light and playful, wistfully carrying readers from page to page with horizontal line work and the forward motion of the animals themselves, who travel from left to right.  Let's talk Picture Books

Without a whiff of didacticism, Salmieri shows readers how to appreciate beauty, invite friendship, express gratitude, let go, and walk in the world. School Library Journal

I would pair this book with The Lion and the Bird.  Other reviewers have also mentioned Big Wolf and Little Wolf.