Bear Snores On

Small critters gather for a winter party in Bear's den. Bear sleeps like through it all.... until. This book has grown on me to the point that I love it, and love reading it. The text is brilliant. It's cute, rhythmic and rhymes and the tone is flexible. You can make it a happy book through and through, or you can make Bear scary in his "deep dark lair" and build some suspense. Illustrations are cute too, and I especially love one picture with the animals dancing in the firelight so that all we see are their black silhouettes and a very large sleeping brown bear in color.

Currently my two-year-old absolutely loves it. My almost-four-year-old enjoys it, but not as much as she used to.

One snowy night while Bear hibernates, Mouse, Hare, Badger, Gopher, Mole, Wren and Raven gather in his cave to drink tea and eat snacks but when Bear awakes, he is very disappointed to have missed the party. Of course, there’s still a happy ending to this story. This picture book combines a well-paced story that repeats and builds to an exciting climax with delicious writing full of onomatopoeias and rhyme, making it an excellent storytime choice. Preschoolers will love snoring along after the repeated refrain, “but Bear snores on.” The illustrations effectively contrast the chilly windswept white-and-blue forest with the warm browns and yellows of Bear’s inviting cave. Highly recommended for readers age 2 to 5.

In my opinion Bear Snores On is a fabulous children’s book. I feel this way based on the simple, yet, expressive language, writing style, and the well thought out pictures to support the story. First, I feel as though the language is descriptive, and has a repetition throughout the book, which young children love. For example, on every fourth page it says, “But the bear snores on.” I know when I read this story to my sisters, they couldn’t wait to say “But the bear snores on,” as though they were apart of the story. This makes the story engaging! Which leads me to the writing style. The writing is expressive, engaging, and flows so smoothly. Here is an example that supports my opinion, “Cuddled in a heap, with his eyes show more shut tight, he sleeps though the day, he sleeps though the night. The cold winds howl and the night sounds growl. But the bear snores on.” The writing is so calming and engaging. Lastly, the illustrations, oh the illustrations! I find myself so taken by each illustration. The bear looks so sound, and each one of his friends are so blissful and warm feeling in my eyes. The colors are very soft, thus, they are all appropriate for the mood of the story. In conclusion, the message of the story is based around a bear who slumbers through his friends having fun together in his cave while he snores on, when he wakes he appears very angry, but really he just wished he had been able to enjoy the time with his friends. show less

As Bear sleeps through the winter in his warm lair, other forest creatures creep into his den to escape a snowstorm outside. What will happen when Bear wakes up and sees all the squatters?

This cheerful story uses rhyming, onomatopoeia, repetition and other simple literary devices to make the telling fun for kids. Jane Chapman's smooth painting style evokes movement in her brushstrokes and bold lines. The undefined background of her illustrations forces the eye to focus on the animals. Expressive and slightly cartoonish, they add a welcome whimsy to the text, which is itself responsive to the story. While mostly set in a large, simple typeface, the size and styling of the words varies according to what is going on in the pictures. This show more integration is further emphasized by the fact that it is set in white space in and around Chapman's full-page illustrations.

Overall a delightful tale for young children to read with their parents (or even on their own); recommended for kids ages 3-7. show less

This one was friendly and fun enough but I remain far, far from convinced we need any new sets of animal pals. Couldn't this story have been told with Grumpy Bear, or Winnie-the-Pooh, or Igor the Dancing Bear?

An adorable parade of woodland creatures gathers in the lair of a hibernating bear to take shelter from a blustery storm. Everything goes quite cozily until Bear wakes up to an unexpected party. It's like The Hobbit meets Winnie-the-Pooh, told with big cute pictures and spare cutesy verse.

This 2003 ALA Notable Book makes a great choice for preschool story times built around themes of winter, friendship, forest animals, or waking up from snoozing. I am also convinced it would make awesome puppet theater.

Song pairing: "Sleeping Bunnies"

Bear is sleeping his winter sleep; meanwhile, his friends sneak into his cave one by one and have a party with tea and popcorn. Bear wakes up at last and is upset that he has missed all the fun, but he hasn't really - the fun continues until morning, which sees Bear awake and his friends asleep.