Bear's New Friend

Bear just wants to have fun in the sun with his friends, but a noise startles him and he decides to figure out where it's coming from. Bear gathers his friends along the way, to help him find out what's making the noise. Young readers are introduced (or re-introduced) to mouse, raven, wren, badger, and many more friends. It's an adorable stpry that focuses on shyness, and how much fun you can have when you decide to "come out of hiding" and play with new friends. The book focuses on kindness and including all those around you.

Bear’s New Friend
By Karma Wilson (2009)

I liked Bear’s New Friend by Karma Wilson for three reasons. First, I liked Wilson’s ability to rhyme throughout the book. For example, “…there’s a clatter in the tree! Oh, what could it be?” Tree and be rhyme. In addition, “Who’s hiding up there? Perhaps it is the Hare?” There and hare rhyme. Thus, readers can see Wilson’s talent within her writing. The second thing I liked was the repetition present in the story. Specifically, Wilson repeats the phrase, “And the bear asks, 'Who'?” five times. By repeating this phrase, readers can clearly understand how curious the bear is to find out who is making noises. Finally, I liked how Wilson introduced readers to strange animals, show more for instance, a hare, gopher, mole, badger, raven, and a wren. In my opinion, the animals presented are not children’s ‘favorites,’ so this book expands reader’s knowledge about animals. Overall, the “big idea” of Bear’s New Friend is to keep your mind open, and welcome new friends, regardless of the circumstances. show less

This is a story about Bear who hears a noise in the woods. Bear keeps running into his normal friends in the woods but none of them are the ones making the noise. In the end the animal making the noise was hiding because it was scared and is happy to be friends with Bear.

The pictures in this book are really cute. My two year old loved the repetitive phrase "And Bear says 'Who?'" He loved repeating the Who part. He also loved naming the animals and repeating the sounds they would make.

Unfortunately this book is pretty long and wordy for a board book and I have had a lot of trouble getting my son to sit down and read it. He loves to read books, normally he will tolerate a longer book, but he tells me this one is boring and always wants to show more put it away. The parts where Bear says "Who?" don't necessarily make any sense with the rest of the story and are kind of put in weird places. Also this book doesn't really teach anything about friendship; it says on the cover it is "A Book About Friendship". If anything it touches on issues of shyness but even that is only brief.

In summary the pictures are cute. The story length and content leave a lot to be desired (especially from my two year old son's point of view). This book will never be a favorite of his or mine. Also don't be misled, this isn't a story that teaches some sort of deep-seated lesson about friendship. It also isn't a story that is educational in any way. The only positive parts about this book were the repetitive "Who?" phrases that my son enjoyed and the fact that there are animals in the story. It's an okay book but will most likely be gotten rid of sooner than later. show less

I liked this book because it is about being new and different in a strange place. It is about accepting someone that is new and becoming friends with them. This is a good book for teaching children about how scary being different can be, while teaching them about acceptance and kindness.

Young children will enjoy this book, however, it lacks the initial charm of "Bear Snores On", in my opinion. The first 2 books of the series are the strongest and most memorable. Children will want to add this book to their collection, though,because they have fallen in love with the whimsical characters, and want a complete set!

Bears New Friend is a sweet story with a simple plot. Karma Wilson writes in rhyme text for the early reader and well drawn, charming illustrations are produced with rich, green forest backgrounds by Jane Chapman. Bear and other kind forest animals find and welcome a shy new forest friend (an owl). This delightful children's book is a perfect summertime read aloud story. I recommend this book for toddlers, preschool and kindergarten. I love this book! ***** stars!

Wilson, Karma. (2006). Bear's New Friend. Illustrated by Jane Chapman. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
This story is told in rhyme and is the story of a bear in search of his friends to play. Bear keeps hearing someone yell out "Who" as he roams the forest looking for all his friends. Throughout the story, Bear continues to meet up with his friends Mouse, Hare, Gopher and Mole and all the while he continues to hear "Who". In the end, he finally see who has been saying "who": a friendly Owl that has come to be his friend.
The illustrations in this story are great and filled with many colors and done with acrylic paint. They rhyming verse was also great because it built up this suspense that my kids really loved.