Old Bear

Product Information

The text is in a bold font with the dream portions featured in different colors. Henkes uses few, but well chosen words to tell the story of Old Bear. Sailor— a sailor doll. Being the same size as Little Bear, Sailor has joined in his adventures. He loves anything to do with boats or the sea and knows a lot about both. [11]

Elsie— a little toy elephant, she is the newest character to join the toys. She is very good at doing almost everything but sometimes she is a little too enthusiastic when tying bows or blowing up balloons, and does not know when to stop. The other toys have a job keeping up with her. Elsie's trunk means that she can do things that the others cannot, such as using a knife, fork and spoon all at once and blowing the most amazing bubbles! As Elsie is the same size as Little Bear she can join in all his games but he doesn't always need her help. [20] Only rarely when one is reading aloud does one have the opportunity to really look. So I like this better than I did the first time through. Yes, the text is simple and straightforward, but it's hard to be simple without becoming simplistic. Possibly this is a very bad idea for reasons I don't know enough to consider. Possibly someone will even point out the flaws to me. But maybe a children's imprint will do such a thing someday. Isn't it pretty to think so? Bound volumes of comic books often include pictures of the art in progress. Wouldn't it be awesome if illustrators of picture books for children would document their process like that? It would be annoying and time consuming just figuring out the process if one were trying for consistency, I get that. But even small low-quality snapshots taken more-or-less at random would be neat. Bob Ross is perennially popular for more than his reassuring commentary. Unlike sausage, it's very cool to see art being created. And what a boon it would be for the chronically-underfunded art departments of most public schools. The Naughty Cats— the main antagonists. Five toy cats who cause a lot of trouble for Ruby, Blue and Blanket but Blanket knows how to get them to behave themselves. [18]Jolly Tall: a toy giraffe who despite his height didn’t like heights - he said his head thought it was high enough already. Hoot— a female white toy owl who lives in the loft. She is the only one of the toys who can fly. She is sensible, kind and motherly and likes to look after the "younger" characters. Hoot sleeps all day in her nest on top of the wardrobe (unless someone needs to be rescued when she leaps into action). At night, however, when everyone else is asleep, Hoot is awake and busy. No one is really sure what she does, but if anything is missing in the morning it may be because Hoot has tidied it away in the night! [13] Bramwell Brown: a wise and intelligent old bear, often considered second to Old Bear. Liked to cook things for the other toys. Old Bear— an old dusty teddy bear, Old Bear is the sensible one who likes to sort out problems and keep everyone happy. He likes to look after all the other toys and loves reading them a bedtime story at the end of the day. [1] Old Bear is based on a real teddy bear the author, Jane, received from her grandmother when she was a baby. [2]

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes is a hibernation story about a bear who dreams his way through the winter. Old Bear: an elderly dusty teddy bear, he was put up in the attic when he reached an advanced age, but was rescued by the other toys. They now looked up to him as a fearless, yet wise, leader. The fantasy illustrations are the highlight of this book. Children will enjoy this old bear. It should make a good read-aloud. My favorite illustrations include young bear in Spring and in Winter, the four panel look at Old Bear asleep, and Old Bear emerging into spring in full bloom. Ruby— a little toy mouse with a knitted red jumper. She is adventurous and playful with many ideas for new games. [15] Rabbit's cousin: female cousin of Rabbit, who occasionally stayed with the toys. She wore a straw hat, and seemed to like to cause mischief, and didn’t like cleaning.Little Bear: a small white bear who wore overly baggy orangey red trousers. Being the youngest of all the toys, he was very enthusiastic and inquisitive, rather like a young child. He also sometimes had good ideas for solving problems or playing games. Ruff— a bouncy toy dog. He is fun to play with but sometimes can muddle up games by being a little too bouncy. He does have to be careful not to leave muddy footprints everywhere. [14]