Bear's New Friend (The Bear Books)

This one is not my favorite. We love "Bear Snores on" and "Bear wants more". I like the rhyming and stories better than this one, but this one is cute too. we also like the Christmas one- "Bear Wakes Up". My (almost) 3 and 5 yr olds love all of these and we read them all the time. the illustrations are great. we learn about all the different animals. they love to "aaaachooo" in Bear snores on.

My wife, kids, and I have been following Bear and Company's exploits for all of his books now. The boys love the pictures, the parents love the rhyme-schemes and alliteration. Thus a fabulous time is had by all. On a peronal note, I'm not as fond of these last few Bear books as I was of the first, They haven't quite captured the magic of the first for me. But that's like comparing Chocolate and Vanilla; no matter which way you cut it, it's all ice cream and a darned sight better than spinach (no offense to you spinach-lovers out there). How many times you read this line? "Do yourself a favor and buy this book for yourselves and your little ones!!!" This time it's true!!!

I received this book yesterday and sat down with my 11-month-old grandaughter and we "read" this book. This is her first Bear book and I think Bear has a new friend who happens to be my grandaughter!! While she can't sit still for me to read each page entirely, we looked at the pictures and I paraphrased the words. Which in my opinion, I love how the author's words flow. The pictures are adorable, mouse is just too cute!! I found later my 6-year-old reading the book later and she also has decided that Bear would be a great friend. :)

Wilson does it again with this child friendly board book. With rounded corners, it is safe for even 1 year olds but 6 year olds will still delight in the rhymes and story. The bear asking "WHO" gives the book excitement and anticipation throughout the story. The illustrations are colorful but done in soft tones so it is a calming book as well. I think it makes a good bedtime story for small children and a learning tool for the tiniest ones.

This author is just really really good. Not much more to say. Sweet story, easy and short, kids love it. Nothing too dramatic. GREAT illustrations. You just want to keep checkin' in with Bear and his new stories to see what's up. Can't go wrong, especially as a gift book.

This 4th book in the series in pleasing and entertaining with a dash of suspense.

The illustrations are beautiful and the story is good, however bear's persistent question "who?" is a little jarring and makes for a slightly annoying read. Doesn't quite go with the tone of the book. The author could have thought up a better word or phrase to keep the story moving.

I'm all for the fantastical in children's stories and I'm s big a skeptic about Darwinism as anybody, but a story where the owl hides from the rabbit and the mouse just seems to underestimate the common sense of even the littlest kids.

The rhymes work well enough and the artwork is terrific, but credulity gets pretty severely strained.

Our daughter loves this series and this new book is no exception!!! Our two year old has most of these books memorized and with the catchy lyrics and rythmes she feels like she's actually reading...which every parent hopes to accomplish!!!Every chance we get we purchase a book from this author, so dont limit yourself to just this one...all her books are catchy, fun and will leave you with smiles at bedtime!!!

Fans of the winter tale, Bear Snores On, will like this summer time story about finding friendship. While this installment in the Bear stories doesn't quite have the rhythm of the original tale, it is still very sweet and dreamy. Board book format allows even the youngest readers to enjoy the story.

Disclosure: I received this book for free so that I would review it.

Bear's New Friend is a mildly entertaining story about a band of woodland creatures trying to discover the identity of a new animal they've never seen before. After a series of guesses and misses, the animals finally meet and make friends with the shy newcomer, a small owl.

Nothing about the book really grabbed me. It wasn't especially cute, nor did it have an especially funny, memorable, or instructive storyline. I would have rated it 3 stars, but a few nits bothered me. In particular, I didn't like the bear asking "WHO?" every few pages. This is meant to foreshadow the coming of the owl, but it's not how people speak, and this grated on me. ("Who's there?" or "is there anyone there?" would be more natural, less grating, and perhaps even a little instructional to a young child.) Second, the story wasn't as coherent or logical as I would like, with the mystery animal doing many unusual things that an owl wouldn't do, then a completely different animal or set of animals appears. Do owls hide in holes in the ground? Not that I'm aware of. Finally, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but when the book switched to introducing multiple animals at once, I couldn't tell which was which, so couldn't teach my daughter. Raven and wren? Gopher and mole? Shame on me for not being able to tell them apart right away. Regardless, I would have preferred if the book stuck to the formula of introducing a single new animal each time.

Still, what matters more is my daughter's opinion, not mine. She did ask for the book a second time, which is a good sign. But she clearly doesn't care for it as much as her favorites (Curious George, Dr. Seuss, Disney books, etc.). Also, despite the store's classificiation, at 3 years old, I think she's too old for this book and finds it a little boring. It might go over better with younger children.

Our kids loved this book the first time they laid eyes on it!!

This edition of Bear's New Friend is a small board book and is just the right size for your toddler. Our kids are 2 and they were able to easily flip through the pages.

They really enjoyed all the pictures of the animals and were captivated with the story. Speaking of the story, the text prompts your child to follow along and recite "Who?". If they're old enough to understand the context, they'll see that Bear helps a fellow animal overcome his shyness and then become friends.

Highly recommended.