Where is he? (It's the Bear! - Jez Alborough)

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Product:	It's the Bear! - Jez Alborough
Date:	24/05/07 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great story

Disadvantages: none

It’s the bear

Eddy’s back with the great big bear. Children who have read Where’s my Teddy will instantly recognise the characters and for those children who haven’t read the book, no worries, they are not follow on stories…no need to read the first to thoroughly enjoy this one.


~~Story ~~

We start with Eddy and mum walking through a quite idyllic wood scene, but although mum is striding ahead with the picnic basket, Eddy is loitering behind clutching his small teddy. Of course, he is scared and doesn’t want to go into the woods because he is scared of “the great big bear that lives in there”

Mum tells him he is silly, and leads him by the hand into the woods. Whilst mum unpacks the picnic things, Eddy stands, still with his teddy, looking nervously into the woods.

Here we have a list of things as mum reels of what they have to eat, and as they peer into the basket, she realises that she has forgotten the pie. She decides to pop back and get it, and although Eddy protests, it’s too late, and she has gone. Even young children realise that she is silly to leave Eddy all by himself…after all, we are always telling children not to walk away

Eddy tries not to look cry but when he hears a great big voice shouting “I CAN SMELL FOOD!” it’s all too much for him and he hides in the basket

Cue the bear, who really is very big, and seems to dwarf the trees and certainly the little picnic hamper. There is Eddy inside the basket, although to be fair, all we can see of him are his two frightened eyes looking out of the basket.

Inside the basket, on a black page, we learn that Eddy cuddles his teddy, and then a bear bottom sits on the lid, and the bear proceeds to eat all the food. When the bear looks for dessert, eddy’s increasing panic is shown in the way his words imploring the fates not to let the bear find him get bigger and bigger. When the Bear finally opens the basket, Eddy shouts “HELP!” and the Bear steps back in fright, even dropping his own teddy bear, which is enormous.

Eddy and the Bear both stand clutching their teddies and looking terrified, and while eddy is screaming, his mum comes running to find him. She again berates Eddy for talking about the bear, but there’s the bear, behind mum, claws at the ready and licking his lips. Mum turns round just in time, screams, and mum and Eddy run away.

Hold on though, as the Bear runs in the opposite direction, we realise that it wasn’t mum he wanted to eat- it was the blueberry pie-yum yum!

~~ Illustrations and Text~~

The illustrations are sure to appeal to young children. When the bear appears, he is indeed huge, and Eddy really does look terrified. Mum looks constantly flustered, and seems the kin of mum who is always thinking of something else. All of the pictures are set in an idyllic woodland scene, which just prepares us for the arrival of the bear!

The illustrations themselves follow no set format, but depend on and enhance the storyline, and the pictures and layout sometimes have an almost comic book style. We sometimes see the double page spread divided vertically into 4 strips with the text in a single box to go with each picture, and sometimes it is divided in half horizontally. When Eddy is in the box, he is on the left hand side of the page, and it all seems black apart from Eddy’s little corner of peace- yes, there he is inside the box. Whenever the bear is on the scene, the picture takes whole double page format, mainly so that we get an idea of his size.

The story is written in humorous rhyming couplets, so the whole thing is almost sing song, and children who understand rhyme can have a good go at supplying the next word.

All of the text is in boxes, so children have a clear indication of what they have to read, and this further enhances the story for young children as the text is kept separate and distinct from the pictures, so they can tell the story using pictures only. The text itself lends itself brilliantly to reading aloud, with lots of the text in capitals, so children know how the characters are feeling, and get an indication of when to shout.

~~Other bits of information~~

Published: 1994 by Walker Books

ISBN: 0744543851

RRP: £5.99

~~Other books by the same author~~

A quite prolific author, who has written some well known books for young children. These include:

o Where’s My Teddy
o Hug
o Duck in the Truck
o Tall
o My Friend Bear

~~What I think of the Book~~

A great follow up to the equally enjoyable story by the same author, Where’s My Teddy. As I said earlier, it can be read as a stand alone story, and the humour of the story is not spoilt if children have not read the former story. Children who have read the other story will realise that this time the bear is hungry, and that Eddy has every right to be scared because they have met the bear, know he exists, and know that he is enormous. A hungry, huge bear- not good!

The storyline and illustrations are humorous with just a twist of spookiness, but nothing that will scare children; after all, the bear merely wants a dessert, and we find out at the end what a harmless bear he really is.

Children from about the age of 4 will enjoy the rhyme and the layout, and it’s a great book to read aloud together.
Recommended.

Thanks for reading.

Daniela x

Summary: Picture book for the very young