I probably should not compare this to The House With Chicken Legs, but The Girl Who Speaks Bear just did not capture me the same way. I enjoyed the book, and I think it’s a great, imaginative middle grade filled with lots of the folklore and fairytales and about the importance of family. But I guess the themes just didn’t resonate with me. I didn’t love Yanka; she is impulsive, ready to rush off to do this or another thing, and I think this contributed to some of the pacing problems I had. To me The Girl Who Speaks Bear was a little choppy (this was furthered by the frequent pauses for stories, but nevertheless I really liked this element) and I found myself ready to get to the end of this story. I would definitely give this to my kid, but it didn’t transcend age for me the way that The House With Chicken Legs did. I’ll definitely be reading Sophie Anderson’s next book though.