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The Bear in the Cave
by Michael Rosen

Release Date: 1st Oct 2007
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978 0 7475 7765 2
RRP: £10.99

Average Customer Rating: 
(0.0 based on 0 ratings)

Sometimes, I must confess to hankering after a little controversy and so I was almost determined not to like this children’s book by the Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen. I tried not to smile at the large, bumbling bear staggering through the morning surf, I tried not to be impressed that the author himself had recorded the audio CD that was included, I tried not to grin idiotically at the lavishly colourful illustrations and most of all I tried my hardest to get irritated by the repetitions.

There is no real plot to speak of: Bear is alone, bear hears the call of the City and hops on a train and explores said City. Bear gets laughed at and starts to feel a bit sad, then some totally unrealistic children come and take him back to his home and they all end up snuggled in the bear’s cave. Somehow, this doesn’t register as a failing. And then I realise that actually the book is about colour and movement and sound and experiencing something new and exciting.
The repetition, I know, helps youngsters come to grips with reading.

The illustrations help further communicate what is going on in the story. The words tinkle and skip throughout the book with a kind of joyful abandon – the sounds are infectious – “heedily hee” and “thissety that”. You find you can’t help smiling and when you see everyone ends up in bed asleep, I imagine every parent in the country will quietly punch the air with joy. Parents love books like these.

So you see, I couldn’t help but love this book.

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