The Story: It is winter and Bear is sleeping in his cave. One by one a succession of birds and animals come into the cave to get warm and soon a fire is lit. The animals start to share their food, chat and party and Bear snores on! There is a moment of tension when Bear wakes up and growls but he joins the party and at the end of the story it is the animals who are sleeping and Bear who is wide awake.
Bear Snores On is the perfect story to read in winter and it introduces young children to the concept of hibernation, something I had to explain to my daughter after a visit to the zoo last month when the bears weren’t in their usual spot. The story introduces a wide range of animals including a hare, a badger, a gopher and a mole. Illustrator Jane Chapman’s animals are very cute, we love the picture of the animals sat together around the fire while ‘bear snores on’! Jane has used muted, earthy colours throughout the book which give a warm cosiness to the cave. Despite the fact that all the action in this book takes place in the cave the easy to read rhyming text and the animal action in each picture move the story along beautifully.
This is a perfect bedtime story and a great book to stimulate discussion about sharing.
Quote from Jessica (age four): “The bear needs to wake up to have a drink!”
Age Range: 2 +
Author: Karma Wilson / Illustrator: Jane Chapman
Leave a Reply