A Best Friend for Bear

Feeling lonely, Black Bear decides to find a best friend. Whilst wandering the forest, he bumps into Brown Bear who is also looking for a friend so they agree to search together. They agree that finding a friend is difficult, but also exciting and made easier because there are two of them. However, the friend they are looking for remains elusive until they realise they have both found just what they were looking for.

Completely delightful and heart-warming, ‘A Best Friend for Bear’ is perfect for sharing with little ones. It offers an ideal starting point for discussions about friendship, showing how easily people (or bears!) can slip into a comfortable relationship when least expected.

Petr’s illustrations are always a joy and those in ‘A Best Friend for Bear’ are no exception. Black Bear and Brown Bear have the most expressive faces and there is plenty of humour for little ones to enjoy. The setting is lovely- lush woodland with lots of butterflies- and little children would really enjoy playing hide and seek in the woods just like the bears do. The pictures might also inspire children to create their own pictures, using printing or creating rubbings to create tree and butterflies to drift through them.

The story is also perfect for acting out, either with puppets or in person. The bears could be made using simple paper bag hand puppets or children could make little bear ears if they were pretending to be the bears. There is so much fun to be had with this book as well as it being a wonderful story!

A Best Friend for Bear Petr Horacek

Walker Books ISBN: 978-1406397543

You can read my review of ‘Blue Penguin’ here.