Wednesday 20 April 2016

A Brave Bear

A Brave Bear

Written by Sean Taylor
Illustrated by Emily Hughes
Published by Walker Books



With the wonderful words of Sean Taylor (Hoot Owl, Where The Bugaboo Lives) and the beautiful illustrations of Emily Hughes (Wild, The Little Gardener), A Brave Bear looks and reads like a children's classic - and its only just arrived in your local book shop!

"Everything was hot." This lovely tale starts off with a father and son lying inside their cave on a hot day. Everything is a struggle in the heat, with the bears feeling like the hottest thing in the world. The little bear suggests a trip to the river to cool off. 





"It's quite a long way to get to the river." The two bears venture on to the river to help with the ongoing heat. Along the way they encounter grassy parts, bushy parts and lots and lots of rocks to jump. The little bear wants to show his daddy that he can be grownup, and attempts to do a big jump. But the little bear slips and hurts his knee, and the daddy bear helps him up. The little bear then doesn't want to go to the river anymore. But daddy bear offers to carry him but little bear refuses his help and decides to go on to the river on foot - although his knee is hurting him. "And Dad said, "I think a brave bear is probably the bravest thing in the world!"

Emily's illustrations are, as always, delightful. Emily is known for her beautiful drawings of plants and wild landscapes and this doesn't disappoint. Her wispy pencil renderings give this tale a classic feel which fit perfectly with Sean's tone of voice of the little bear.




On the surface, A Brave Bear seems like a simple and quiet story, but underneath it has deep meanings and big themes. It shows a child's independence as a big step (or jump) and that when children do fail at first they can surprise us with what they do next. "Even tomorrow was glowing."

The perfect book to share with your little brave bear. A Brave Bear is available to buy now at all good bookshops and online here.

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