Beary Pleased To See You (Old Bear - Jane Hissey)

Member Name: belfin

Product:	Old Bear - Jane Hissey
Date:	12/08/06 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cuddly story of friendship

Disadvantages: none

***The Author***

Jane Hissey is well known for her Old Bear stories and has written many books in this series including Jolly Tall and Little Bear. As well as these stories appearing in print, you can also follow the toys adventures on DVD as they are brought to life for us. They are also sometimes shown on Channel Five's Milkshake show for young children from 6am, although I don't believe they are showing at present.

***The Story***

The story starts with Bramwell Bear who is missing his old friend, Old Bear. He remembers that Old Bear was packed away in a box and put in the attic for safekeeping whilst the children were small. Now that they have grown up a bit, Bramwell, with the help of Little Bear, Rabbit and Duck, decide that a rescue mission should be put in place to get him down again.

The problems start when they realise that they don't have a ladder to get up to the hatch and think of other ways to carry out this important task. They try many things, including building a brick tower, bouncing on the bed and climbing up a cheese plant. None of these ideas work, though, and it isn't until they see a toy aeroplane that a real idea starts to take shape.

"I'll be pilot," said Rabbit, hopping up and down, making aeroplane noises.
"And I'll stand on the back and push the trap door open with my paintbrush," said Little Bear.
"But how will you get down?" asked Duck.
"I've already thought of that," said Bramwell, who hadn't really but quickly did. "They can use these handkerchiefs as parachutes and we'll catch them in a blanket."

Soon, Little Bear is in the attic and Old Bear is delighted to see him. The two bears parachute down and the story ends with all the friends snuggling up in bed together, dreaming about their adventures.

***The Illustrations***

The detail in these drawings are really special as the toy animals all have very real looking furry coats, which makes you feel as though you could just pick them all up and give them a big hug. Jane Hissey has used her own childhood toys as models for these drawings and it apparently takes her about 6 months to complete the illustrations to go with each book. With the texture and depth that is recreated in her drawings, it is of no surprise that some of these have been made into prints that you can buy from a number of online stores.

***My Thoughts***

Old Bear has been a bit of a favourite with me since reading the books to my daughters many years ago. This book was relatively new then as it was first published in 1988 and my eldest daughter was born in 1989. Who would have guessed that nearly 20 years on they would be as popular today?

The thing that draws me into this book is that the story is simply told, but it is a proper story. By that I mean that there isn't just one sentence on each page and is a great one for reading at bedtime. My son loves the Old Bear series on TV and he jumped for joy when he saw this in the library, as he recognised the characters immediately. I think it is the fact that the toys are very similar to some of his teddies and stuffed animals, especially his favourite toy, his bunny.

The illustrations bring the story to life in a way that is sometimes missing in other storybooks and I feel that this is very important. My son loves to sit and tell the story out loud and although he can't read it yet, he is able to recall it through these pictures. I love to listen to him chattering away and laughing at all the exploits of the toys as they try to reach the attic hatch. He always adds a lot of sound effects in the form of crashes when the toys tumble over and aeroplane noises as he sees the little wooden plane take off.

This book is also good for learning, as it teaches children about the importance of teamwork and friendship. It also teaches about how perseverance pays off and that just because one idea fails, you shouldn't give up, but instead think carefully about how else you might solve a problem.

Finally, I love the way all the toys are reunited at the end and how they each dream of their adventures whilst Bramwell watches over them. The only problem that this has brought is that my son now insists all his toys cuddle into his bed at night too. He tells me they would get lonely and miss each other if they didn't.

***Price and Availability***

This large paperback sells for the normal price of £5.99 but is available from Tesco for £4.49.

ISBN No. 0099265761

Summary: The one that started it all off.