Bedtime for Bear

Bear finds it difficult to get to sleep in this engaging picture-book from author/artist Brett Helquist, who also illustrated Lemony Snicket's popular A Series of Unfortunate Events. With winter having arrived, it is time to hibernate, but his raccoon friends want him to come out and play instead, and the sounds of their happy play prevents him from falling asleep. Finally goaded beyond endurance, he emerges from his house in a terrible temper, only to be inveigled into a wonderful day of fun in the snow...

The second picture-book I have read that was both written and illustrated by Helquist, following upon his Grumpy Goat, Bedtime for Bear pairs a fun, engaging story with appealing artwork. The exuberance of Bear and his two little show more raccoon friends, and the fun of their games is ably captured in the visuals here, as is the affection amongst them. Helquist's depiction of their faces is quite well done, and their expressions are often quite droll. The indoor scenes, which show Bear in his bed, are cozy and cute. All in all, a sweet little bedtime book, particularly well-suited to winter-time. show less

A pair of raucous raccoons nag a pajama-clad bear who is settling down for hibernation to come outside and play in the snow. Initially reluctant, the bear ends up having so much fun even the raccoons are worn out. The story is told graphic novel style, with panels of various sizes, cinematic action, speech balloons, sound effects, and lots of interesting and funny visual details.

This book was about a young bear who had to go to sleep until winter time. Bear's friend keep bothering him because they want to play. Bear tells them no, not until spring. they keeping bothering him to where finally bear gets up and yells at them. Well, bear falls down in the snow and is having so much fun with his friends. Bear keeps going up and down the hill until his friends are too tired. Bear keeps wanting to play, but his friend tell him that they will see him during spring. I think the point of the story is, is that you always should have fun just one more time and get all your energy out before it's time to be serious.

Bear is getting ready to head to bed/hibernate for the winter but his raccooon friends want him to come outside for one more day and play with them in the snow. Bear goes out to yell at his friends to keep it down when he's hit in the head with a snowball. This causes him to slip and fall down the hill of snow. Instead of being enraged he enjoys it and spends the day with his friends playing in the snow. But when night comes he says his goodbyes and goes to sleep for the winter.

I thought the illustrations were very neat, as the author is more known for his artistic creations and is a "New York Times Bestselling Illustrator" who also illustrated a favorite series of mine, "Tales of Unfortunate Events." The book is cute and good for show more younger children. I'm not sure if it would hold the attention of my second graders though because the text is pretty basic and has a lot of onomatopoeias. show less

This is a cute bedtime story for children. It is about a bear getting ready for bed for the winter, but his friends don’t want to let him sleep. It has great illustrations to go along with the text. I would recommend this book for parents that read to their children at night.

Bear is settling in for his winter hibernation when all of a sudden his rowdy Racoon friends come knocking at his door wanting him to play outside. Bear tries to explain that he sleeps for the winter, but his friends wouldn't let him. So, Bear end up playing outside for a day and has a blast. At the end of the day, it was worthwhile and bear went back inside to hibernate.

Friends interrupt bear's hibernation. Familiar but fun.