Every House Should Have a Fred Bear (or duck?) (This Is The Bear - Sarah Hayes)

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	This Is The Bear - Sarah Hayes
Date:	03/07/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Charming, Simple, Easy, Well Written, Amusing

Disadvantages: None

This is the Bear by Sarah Hayes is the firm favourite in our house at the moment. It's common for the grandson to memorise favourite books, but this one is so addictive that I've memorised most of it too! It's available from a huge variety of book retailers, including as part of a pack of a kid's favourites value pack from the Book People at present. This is available in hardback and paperback editions, with the paperback version being the considerably cheaper edition to purchase. We've got the hardback version that is pictured here on Dooyoo.

It's a really popular children's book that's suitable for youngsters to listen to as a story, or for early readers to enjoy with or without assistance depending on their ability. The repetitive nature of the text makes this a rhythmic vocal performance that even little babies will enjoy sitting and listening to. Older children will find the large print, simple words an easy place to practice their newly discovered reading skills. So all in all, this is a book that's able to appeal to a slightly wider age range than is usual for a children's book.

The story is all about Fred Bear, who winds up getting thrown in the bin by the dog and carried off to the rubbish dump. His little boy owner chases after him, and after a little searching, Fred Bear is uncovered amongst the rubbish and taken home. It's a short and simple story, with the genius of it being the simplicity coupled with the outstanding use of rhyme.

The way this story flows is just so smooth and well composed that you can't help but enjoy reading this. "This is the bear, who fell in the bin. This is the dog who pushed him in." The story breaks up part way through to give a sense of anticipation "This is the dog, who smelled the smell. Of a bone. And a tin. And a bear as well!" I really can't remember the last time I read a children's book and noticed how well structured it was.

There are loads of great little funny jokes in this too, that appear in the form of speech bubbles throughout the story. It took me quite some time to explain one or two of them to our young grandson, but most children would find these easy to understand I think. For example on the page where it says "This is the bear all nice and clean. Who would not say just where he had been." we see Fred Bear sitting in front of the other toys with a nonchelant look on his face saying "A little trip". Obviously this is his way of refusing to tell the toys 'just where he had been'.

Recently the grandson has taken to re-enacting this book using a duck and a sheep. So we often wind up reading this book replacing the word 'bear' for 'duck' and 'dog' for 'sheep'. The grandson has then learned, with my input I must admit, to act out the story using his duck and sheep. He thinks it's absolutely hilarious, and loves thumping the duck onto the tip and moving him about while he chimes in with the contents of the little speech bubbles as we come to them.

The story ends in a way that's just crying out for even a non-reader to join in with: "And this is the boy, who woke in the night, to ask the bear if he felt alright. And was very surprised, when the bear shouted out "How soon can we have another day out?". The grandson listens excitedly to that closing page every time just waiting to burst out with the closing line! It doesn't matter that he can't read it, it rhymes so well he memorised it after hearing the book just once or twice.

The illustrations in this book are really quite simple, but very appealing too. Fred Bear is the kind of loveable rogue that kids and adults alike will find charming. I'm usually more of a fan of bright colours in kid's books, but I make an exception for this as I feel that the pictures help to keep the children's attention between the pictures and the words.

No young child should be without a copy of this brilliant book. It's fun, it's addictive, it's really well written and I like to think the grandson has excellent taste for choosing this as his current favourite! We're both rather excited to order the other titles from this series now. This is the original book, but due to it's success there are now another three 'This is the Bear' titles available, so look out for those as well. You can find the other titles on sale alongside this original title from most good book shops and websites.

Summary: Highly Recommended