Just One of Those Days is a story that will be familiar to us all. A long night leads to three tired bears and has a detrimental effect on Baby Bear at nursery and Mr and Mrs Bear at work. This gentle story focusses on the little things in everyday family life that can create the biggest dramas when we’re exhausted!
The Story: Mr and Mrs Bear and Baby Bear wake up late after a disturbed night. It’s the start of a day where nothing goes right – it’s raining, they get to nursery late and work doesn’t go well for either of the parents. By the end of the day everybody is tired so they order pizza for dinner and Mr Bear has a surprise for Baby Bear…
Mr Bear’s coffee accident scuppers his lunch break and we’re not sure how well Mrs Bear could work after sitting on her glasses! As a teacher I can relate to the way that Baby Bear is upset by his late arrival at nursery and it gets worse when he can’t play with his favourite dinosaur or drink from the right coloured cup.
All the situations in the story are comfortably familiar and it’s easy to empathise with the characters as their extreme exhaustion leads to Just One Of Those Days. It’s also a reassuring read which shows children that some problems are universal – no matter who your family is and where you live!
We love the way that the pages are laid out with text on a white page on the left and illustrations on the right. The illustrations do a wonderful job of filling in gaps in the text, they really are beautifully intertwined. We love the facial expressions on the bears and the way that their tiredness is also captured in their body language and the messy house is such a true reflection of life with a small child!
It wasn’t until I became a parent that I truly appreciated Jill Murphy’s picture books about family life with the Bear Family and the Large Family. The everyday dramas and the challenges for parents are simply and realistically portrayed in ways that both children and parents can identify with.
Age Range: 2 +
Author / Illustrator: Jill Murphy
Thank you to Macmillan Books for sending a copy of this heart-warming story.
Leave a Reply