A SPECIAL LITTLE BOOK (Little Bear's Special Wish - Gillian Lobel)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	Little Bear's Special Wish - Gillian Lobel
Date:	31/03/09 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely illustrations, nice story

Disadvantages: None

Little Bear's Special Wish by Gillian Lobel is a lovely children's book with a cute and rather enchanting little story which is guaranteed to keep little ones quiet for a while! (More on the story in a sec..) What really grabbed my attention about this little book though, are the gorgeous illustrations, particularly of the bear and the other animals that are portrayed as very cute, and very cuddly, in other words, perfect for little ones! The book is illustrated by Gaby Hansen.

The book itself is one of those kiddies' hard-backs (you know the ones, stiff, cardboardy type stuff) that a lot of children's books are made of. It has sixteen pages in total, which might not sound like much, but given that it is aimed at younger kiddies, I reckon that it's on a par with other books for this age group (probably around 2/3 years old) that are available.

The story is basically about Little bear wanting to give his mummy a special present because it is her birthday. This struck me as being a nice gift for mother's day, or for a mother's birthday, perhaps from daddy to mummy, as the theme was basically the same throughout - Mummy bear was so wonderful and special that she deserved a very special present indeed.... Awww! :-D

Little Bear goes in search of the perfect present with his friend, Lippity Rabbit. (I found the illustrations of the little rabbit in particular, were really very cute).

Whilst little bear is struggling to think what he could possibly get Mummy bear as a gift, he gazes into the sky in that special little way that special little bears do, and suddenly the perfect idea is staring him in the face!! That's right; he wants to get mummy a star! (again... Awww!)

Now little bear has the worry of how to reach the star, and get it out of the sky so that he can get it to mummy on time... whatever will he do? He makes several attempts at climbing higher and higher, on hills and stones and the like, to try his best to reach up into the sky. He even ropes poor Lippity Rabbit into climbing on top of his shoulders to try and reach the star, and another friend, Very Small Frog tries to jump and leap up to the star, but all of these efforts are in vain.

Poor Little Bear is very upset that he cannot reach the star and when he starts to cry, his tears splash into a nearby puddle....But look! There is another star... in the puddle! And then Little Bear jumps up with excitement and has a brainwave! He knows what to do now!!.... I'm sure you can guess the rest... :-D

I bought this book for my little Cuz, and I have to say it's been a roaring success. I have a fair little stash of toys and books and things to keep her amused when she comes to my house, and this book has been the favourite since it appeared in her box one day (she thinks Santa left it, and who am I to correct her?) Time and time again, the Dora book and the Noddy book are ignored and this one is duly fished out of the box and waved under my nose for story time.

The book is available on Amazon for £4.99, but I got it from Woolworths just before the shop was closing down, and I'm pretty sure it was only a quid, though don't quote me on this.

I'd definitely recommend it for little ones who enjoy sitting listening to stories; it's the new favourite in my house!

Summary: A REALLY LOVELY LITTLE STORY