PPBF: Bearsie Bear and the Surprise Sleepover Party

Author/Illustrator: Bernard Waber
Publisher: Walter Lorraine Books, HM, 1997
Age: 3-7
Themes: bears, sleepovers, cold

Opening: see image below (brilliant!)

Summary: (from my library’s catalog) In a cumulative story, one animal after another asks to come in out of the winter cold to sleep in Bearsie Bear’s big bed.

I picked this book because: my critique partner Lynn Becker recommended it to me, and all I’m wondering is why haven’t I heard of it before? I love it! It’s the perfect sort of storytime readaloud for toddlers (my homies!) with just the right amount of repetition and silly names for the reader, and just the right amount of the same for kids who like something silly but heartwarming. Please find and enjoy!

Resources/activities: if possible, read in a bed or under a big blanket! This would make a great piece to reenact with multiple roles. Talk about sleepovers, why we like them, why we don’t, what we bring to them, and what to do when you are at a sleepover, but would rather go home. A great companion read from thew SAME author is called, IRA SLEEPS OVER.

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

And just for fun, a few photos (below) I took of friend’s books while visiting Germany in April…

PPBF: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Author/Illustrator: James Marshall
Publisher: Dial Books, 1988
Age: 3-7
Themes: bears, folklore, classic tales

Opening: see image above

Summary: (from my library’s catalog) Three bears return home from a walk to find a little girl asleep in baby bear’s bed.

I picked this book because: I enjoyed reading it agin, for the gazillionth time! the image above, of Goldilocks sinking into an oversized, overstuffed chair, or the perspective of Pap Bear’s eyes in the image below speaks volumes about what makes Marshall illustrations so irresistible to me – concept, placement, seemingly minor details. The lampshade repeating the shape of papa Bear’s left paw… I melt every time! And his tale-telling style and sense of humor – like the last line from the neighbor on the first page/opening above. You just KNOW it’s going to be a great story! Sigh!

Resources/activities: enjoy reading anything by James Marshall! Rewrite or act out a classic tale and try to give it your own flavor.

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: The Bear in the Book

Author: Kate Banks
Illustrator: Georg Hallensleben
Publisher: Frances Foster Books, FSG, 2012
Age: 3-7
Themes: bears, reading, bedtime

Opening: see image below.

Summary: (from my library’s catalog) At the end of the day a little boy falls asleep as his mama reads about a bear hibernating.

I picked this book because: I love the illustrator’s style, and the cover is wonderful! The author and illustrator have collaborated on a number of books and aim to check them all out. All kids have their own favorite books so I believe they will easily relate to the boy in the book as swell as the bear! The telling is rhythmic and gentle and is as pleasing for the adult reader as for a child. Makes you go, “Ahhh.”

Resources/activities: read any other book with a bear in it and compare the energies of the stories, the illustration styles, and note each favorite spread.

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: Mr. Bear and the Ghost

Author: Chizuko Kuratomi
Illustrator: Kozo Kakimoto
Publisher: Macdonald, 1984(orig.,1983)
Age: 3-6
Themes: bears, ghosts, rabbits

Opening: Something was wrong in Rabbit Town.

Summary: (could not find a synopsis ANYWHERE online!) Mr. Bear is asked to stay the night at the Carrot Funfair because it appears to be haunted – and finds there is some truth to their fears!

I picked this book because: I am a fan of the Mr. Bear books and though the story is not particularly “peppy” by today’s standards, the illustrations are as fresh and marvelous as ever! All of their books are a delight and this one might be just the right kind of ghost story for little ones at this time of year! Just look at the atmosphere Kakimoto creates!

Resources/activities: read other Mr. Bear titles you might be able to find at your library: here is a sampling, but I believe there are 16 or 17 in all. Make a colorful windchime with old keys – see image below.

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: Middle Bear

Author: Susanna Isern
Illustrator: Manon Gauthier
Publisher: Kids Can Press, 2015
Age: 3-7
Themes: bears, siblings, middle child

Opening: see image below.

Summary: (from my library catalog) A middle child discovers his own unique gifts. He was the second of three brothers. “He was not big, but he was not little, either. Neither strong nor weak, neither tall nor short, neither a lot nor a little … He was the middle one.” And when you’re always in the middle, sometimes it’s hard to feel special. Until one day, his parents needed an important task to be done. And suddenly, middle-sized was the perfect size to be. Kids will be reassured by this powerful message: No matter your age, you’re always the best at being you!

I picked this book because: I’m the middle child, of course! And this text handles the sensitivities so beautifully. The positives and negatives a child feels about their place in the family, their size, and the responsibilities and privileges attributed. The illustrations are highly engaging and invite young readers to try their own hand at creating collages too! In fact I will add that to the resources below! Find it, enjoy it, share it!

Resources/activities! especially due to the pandemic children need to find ways to express their feelings, and I think reading this together, discussing the pros and cons of one’s placement within a family and what we feel would be a great prompt for a personal collage assignment in which each child may depict a scene form their pandemic experience in relation to their family. Look for more titles illustrated by Manon Gauthier for more inspiration.

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: The Terrible Plop

Author: Ursula Dubosarsky
Illustrator: Andrew Joyner
Publisher: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2009
Age: 3-7
Themes: rabbits, fear, stories in rhyme
Opening: Six little rabbits down by the lake munching on carrots and chocolate cake.

Summary: (from my library catalog) When a mysterious sound sends the whole forest running away in fear, only the littlest rabbit is courageous enough to discover what really happened.

I like this book because: my storytime gang liked it as much as I did! and nothing beats when we all have fun together. It’s an energetic read-aloud, in rhyme, with plenty of humor and surprise. I like to read in a rather dramatic fashion, and this was a perfect outlet for my talents! Ha!

Resources/activities: discuss which sounds may have spooked you; would you leave chocolate cake if you were scared? (Not me!); create a puppet show based on this story – everyone can chose to be whatever animal they want, but someone must be the bear!; serve carrots and chocolate cake at the cast party!

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog  HERE. 

PPBF: The Island and the Bear

Author: Louise Greig
Illustrator: Vanya Nastanlieva
Publisher: Picture Kelpies, 2017
Age: 5-8
Themes: bears, Scottish Hebrides, true stories
Opening: (image below)

Summary: (from the publisher) One morning on a wild and quiet Hebridean island, a bear appeared where there should not have been a bear. The gentle giant would not harm a living thing. But even friendly bears don’t belong on Scottish islands. Will he ever find his way home?

I like this book because: the illustrations are warm, inviting, energetic, evoking the feel and climate of life in the Hebrides (favorite read for adults linked in ‘Resources’); the writing is equally evocative, with a rhyming style so gentle it has you believing this is how the islanders themselves speak!

Resources/Activities: read more Scottish stories: about Kelpies, Selkies, the Loch Ness Monster, or Robert the Bruce; Research where Scotland is on a map. How is their climate different from yours? What is a school-day like in Scotland? Fro adults: read some of my favorite books about life in the Hebrides from Lillian Beckwith: The Hills is Lonely, The Loud Halo, Lightly Poached, and Beautiful Just.

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to bring attention to the struggles of teachers serving our communities today. In my state (CO) a walk-out is being planned one week from today – April 27, 2018. If you cannot join them in their protest, send a teacher you know a letter of gratitude, of support, or encouragement as they continue to support and encourage our children. Thank you!

PPBF: WE4 – Oh, No! Where Are My Pants?+2

To close the series this month on Wolf Erlbruch, I’d like to introduce three titles that he illustrated for other authors. To read the other posts, click HERE, HERE, or HERE. Enjoy!Edited by: Lee Bennet Hopkins
Illustrator: Wolf Erlbruch
Publisher: Harper Collins, 2005
Age: 4-8
Themes: conduct of life, children’s poetry, emotions
Opening: This isn’t the way it was supposed to be- You in Room Two. Me in Room Three.

Summary: Poignant and funny American poems for children selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins.

Why I like this book: I love suggesting books of poetry for emerging readers, especially humorous ones. These all touch on the feelings we all share of what it is like to have a really bad day. I love the simplicity in rendering and arresting compositions that snuggle up perfectly to each poem.

Resources/Activities: write poems about a bad-day experience you may have had.

Author: Gioconda Belli, translated from the Spanish by Charles Castaldi
Illustrator: Wolf Erlbruch
Publisher: Peter Hammer Verlag/Europa Editions, 1994/2005
Age: 7-11
Themes: imagination, inventors, insects
Opening: Butterflies are almost weightless. They are ever so light, like the batting of an eyelid, the sun blinking red and yellow.

Summary: (from fantasticfiction.com) Odair, one of the “Designers of All Things” and grandson of the esteemed inventor of the rainbow, has been banished to the insect laboratory as punishment for his overactive imagination. But he still dreams of one day creating a cross between a bird and a flower. Then, after a helpful chat with a dog . . .

Why I like this book: Every illustration is a gem! For illustrators this is a beautiful edition from which to study what the silhouette of a character can lend to visual storytelling. And I believe children and adults alike can relate to the inventive main character who is one of the ‘Designers of All Things’.

Resources/Activities: consider the kinds of insects or flowers you might like to invent.

Author: Oren Lavie
Illustrator: Wolf Erlbruch
Publisher: Verlag Antje Kunstmann/Black Sheep, 2014/2016
Age: 6-8
Themes: itching, bears, identity
Opening: Once upon a time there was an Itch. Simply, an Itch.

Summary: (from my library catalog) One day, a few minutes after Once Upon a Time, a bear awakes to find he has lost something very important: himself! He sets out into the Fabulous Forest to find himself, using only a few clues scrawled on a piece of paper: the bear he’s looking for is a nice bear; he is a happy bear; and he’s very handsome too! These sound like pretty good qualities to Bear, and so begins his memorable journey. With the help of Fabulous Forest critters like the Convenience Cow, theLazy Lizard, and the Penultimate Penguin, Bear finds that he himself is just what he’s been looking for all along: a nice, happy bear–and handsome too!

Why I like this book: The text is full of gags, silliness and wordplay that are accompanied by equally playful and light illustrations making wonderful use of collage.

Resources/Activities: make a list of character traits you believe belong to you.

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: Mom, There’s a Bear at the Door! + my 5th blogiversary!

To celebrate 5 years of blogging I’d like to send one lucky reader a gift: a picture book of their choice! Please leave the title of the book you’d like in the comment section by March 23, 2017/6amMDT, and if I can get a hold of a new copy I’d be honored to send it to you. Please understand that if the winner is from outside the US, the offer applies in softcover/paperback form. Looking forward to reading your wish titles in the comment section below! And happy St. Patrick’s Day to my fellow (lucky) Irish folks!

Author: Sabine Lipan
Illustrator: Manuela Olten
Publisher: Eerdmans, 2016; orig. in German: Mama, da steht ein Bär vor der Tür!
Age: 2-5
Themes: bears, mother-and-child, humorous stories
Opening: Mom, there’s a bear at the door! A Bear? A bear. But we live on the eleventh floor! That’s why he’s here.

Summary: (from my library catalog) I love the faith tenacity of this main character, and the expression-laden character designs. So much fun!!! Can’t wait to try this out on my storytime kids!

Why I like this book: A mother has several questions when her son tells her there’s a bear standing outside the front door of their eleventh-floor apartment.

Resources/Activities: this is a great ‘what if?’ prompt for young writers!

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: Where’s My Teddy

Author/Illustrator: Jez Alborough
Publisher: Candlewick, 1992
Ages: 3-7yrs
Themes: teddy bears, bears, stories in rhyme
Opening: Eddie’s off to find his teddy. Eddie’s teddy’s name is Freddie.
Summary: (from the book) When a small boy named Eddie goes searching for his lost teddy in the dark woods, he comes across a gigantic bear with a similar problem.

I like this book: The concept is incredibly simple, AND it makes me happy to read. The rhythm carries the reader quickly into the story, slows at the climax, and relaxes in a very comfortable ending. This may be the first PPBF pick where I am not totally enamored with the illustrations, because Eddie’s head gets a little lost on the forest floor, but I’m okay with that – hope you are too!

Resources/activities: Book specific primary teaching resources – HERE; I’m guessing this would be fun to act out, with puppets or ‘for reals’! Print and cut the simple knock-offs below, glue them on popsicle sticks or rilled up scrap paper, and ‘on with the shooooow’!

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE