The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

Summary: A bear finds a pick-up truck filled with berries, eats them all, then promptly falls asleep. He wakes up in the city, where he smells interesting smells, finds fun places to climb and play, and eventually discovers a sandwich that he eats. Caught in the act by a pack of dogs, he runs away, finds a boat, and makes the trip back to his forest home. On the last page, the reader discovers who has been telling the story, throwing an element of doubt into the whole tale.

Pros: Kindergarteners and first graders would love this story. When you find out who is telling the story at the end, this could become a good example of persuasive writing.

Cons: The illustrations were colorful and fun, but a little blurry for my middle-aged eyes.

We didn't really like this book. We have only read it once and my 4 year old son hasn't expressed interest in reading it again. I try not to buy books that have a one and done sort of feeling, but unfortunately this book ended up being just that.

Summary: A bear finds a pick-up truck filled with berries, eats them all, then promptly falls asleep. He wakes up in the city, where he smells interesting smells, finds fun places to climb and play, and eventually discovers a sandwich that he eats. Caught in the act by a pack of dogs, he runs away, finds a boat, and makes the trip back to his forest home. On the last page, the reader discovers who has been telling the story, throwing an element of doubt into the whole tale.

Pros: Kindergarteners and first graders would love this story. When you find out who is telling the story at the end, this could become a good example of persuasive writing.

Cons: The illustrations were colorful and fun, but a little blurry for my middle-aged eyes.

We didn't really like this book. We have only read it once and my 4 year old son hasn't expressed interest in reading it again. I try not to buy books that have a one and done sort of feeling, but unfortunately this book ended up being just that.

My 5-year-old twin daughters love the art work, which is topnotch, funny, and original; however, the story is lacking. A little dog tells a little girl that it was a bear who ate her sandwich and we watch the events unfold, a bear once living in a pristine forest now living in an urban city, on the prowl for food. Perhaps there is a subtext of civilization encroaching on wildlife habitat, but conceding that doesn't negate a lack of a compelling narrative for children. My girls are bored from the lack of story here and are asking for more Dr. Seuss.

As a children's book writer and illustrator I give this book an enthusiastic five stars. The plot is entirely unique, yet has the familiarity of a story made up by an imaginative, yarn-spinning 6-year old. The illustrations are not just beautiful, but designed as an integral part of the storytelling. On top of a great story and outstanding art, there's a wonderful twist. A fancy-pants reviewer would say the book introduces kids to the idea of an unreliable narrator, but the simple description is that it has a hilarious surprise ending. Buy it, and hang on to your sandwich..

A little girl leaves her sandwich on a park bench while she goes to play. Someone comes along and eats that sandwich. But OF COURSE he didn't eat it. He explains to the girl how it was a bear that ate the sandwich. The story of the bear is quite lengthy including how the bear left the forest and how he spent his time in the city before coming along and finding the delicious sandwich. Then the bear disappears again back into the forest never to be seen again.

The illustrations were created in acrylic paint. I docked a star because many of the illustrations are quite muddy making it difficult to discern the details. If all of the illustrations were large like the front cover, this would be a 5star plus rating. The author is obviously a talented artist and the front cover is an example of this.

I loved the story. I especially enjoyed how the story of the bear was drawn out with so many details including what he enjoyed about the city and how he saw it as a new forest. The author used humor nicely to help us enjoy the lengthiness of the story. I loved the surprise ending most of all which makes you want to laugh out loud. Ages 4-8 would enjoy this story the most.

Beautiful artwork in a fun children's tale with a twist ending! This lovely story has colorful illustrations, done in almost a muted impressionistic style. The main characters are easy to see and the words follow the action along some of the pages. My daughter really enjoyed the style this book was written in, it was funny, vibrant and quirky. She still laughs when we read the story and likes to talk about the different things in the book, from the full sandwiches at the beginning to the empty plates on the back. She is absolutely, totally convinced there is a bear and it ate the sandwich.

I really like this book as a great addition to her growing library collection. I want to foster her love for books and reading and this charming tale fits right in. The pages are not crammed full of words, so I don't groan when she pulls it out to read. Yet its still engaging and not boring, she likes to follow along with the pictures and the story, and we talk about the things we see in the illustrations. At the end I try to convince her that the Dog is a sneaky lying sandwich stealing thief and has made up the Bear, but she still believes in Magic and Bears and all things pretend. So we have a good laugh about that silly Bear that the brave Dog tried to stop from eating the poor careless girls sandwich. And that if one wants to eat their lunch, they should eat it right away and not leave it for sneaky pets to steal it from you! Who knew there was a lesson at the end of the book too!

We got this during one of our trips to the library and will be buying a copy for my 2-year-old. He loves it so much he could easily read it 10x a day, and he is NOT one to sit still for anything more than a board book usually. The pictures are great and the story is cute, both my husband and I enjoyed it and were surprised by the ending. We've only had it for a few days but my son has already memorized bits and pieces of it and loves preemptively saying, "He had been seen!" when we get to page where the bear is caught eating the sandwich. It's one of the best books we've ever gotten from the library.

OPENING LINES: "By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich. But you may not know how it happened. So let me tell you. It all started with the bear. "

If the cover or the end papers don’t do it, surely the opening lines will get you to turn the page and enter into this unbelievable story about what happened to a sandwich. First, Bear follows the scent of ripe berries into a truck. Then he ends up in the city, in a park, at a park bench, and to a sandwich. This is a story so adventurous, so fantastic, it’s almost too hard to believe. Hmmm … The art is beautiful and the story ends with a hilarious twist. This one gets a five star review from me!

He did it, really I read along in this story and I saw it happen. Just by reading this book and watching the illustrations, I saw the bear eat your sandwich….do you believe it? It all started with the bear taking a ride in the back of a pickup truck. He hoped in the truck because it was full of fresh-picked berries which all bears love. He had quite the meal and then he took a nap. He awoke in the city which he thought was another type of forest and boy did bear have quite an adventure. Bear saw this sandwich on a bench and he planned his attack. This attack did not go unseen for when he got finished he had quite the audience watching him. Bear got scared and ran. Luckily for him he was able to find a spot where he could see a familiar place, his own forest. Bear wants to go home and he set out a plan to return home. I wasn’t too fond of the illustrations but I really enjoyed the story. I thought the illustrations were too washed out for me on some of the pages; it took away from the effect. The story was wonderful though.

As a library director of a small community library, I purchase and read a LOT of children's picture books. Just got this one in the other day and read it before cataloging it. I loved the illustrations and while the plot seemed a tad improbable (nobody in the city noticed a bear???) it was all explained with a twist that left me laughing out loud! I did not see that one coming! Just as I was laughing, a family with 6 kids came into the library. I immediately finished my cataloging and sat right down to read this book to the kids, who also enjoyed it immensely! Great book!

Missing your sandwich? Well, the bear may have eaten it. He woke up from hibernation and was hungry. He went looking for food and ended up in the big city. Finally, he saw a sandwich sitting on a park bench. Was it your sandwich? What DID happen to your sandwich? This book offers up some ideas. There's a cute little narrator who may be unreliable who may have sandwich on his breath. An adult may need to give hints to the child as to what actually happened to have the story make sense. I didn't get it the first time I read it, but caught on.

The narrator explains how a bear ended up in the city, has a grand adventure but is rather hungry and finally finds an inviting sandwich in the park to devour before it returns to the forest.

This is one of those books where the text and the illustrations work together to make a better book. One without the other just wouldn't have the same comic punch. There's a twist at the end of this, and readers get to decide if the narrator is entirely reliable or not. Quite a fun story.

Excellent book for little people. I love the colorful illustrations as well as the story line. The bear is great fun for children and I think this book is a hit. I recommend it for school libraries and classroom collections as well as your own child's stash of favorite books. This one is a keeper. It is just as cute as could be. Five stars from me.

My preschooler loved hearing this book, and my grade-schooler loved reading it! Beautiful illustrations, and an ending with an unexpected twist--even for adults! So much fun. Perfect for ages 4-8. Wonderful, in particular, as a read-aloud for preschoolers and K-1.

This is one of my favorite books to read to my kids. Children as young as 2 will love it because: Dogs! Bears! Meanwhile, the preschool-and-up crowd will like the unreliable narrator and twist ending. The illustrations are beautiful and have an appropriate, dreamy feel.

This should have been a whimsical tale that becomes more and more silly as it goes along. Unfortunately, the images don't have any sense of fun, making the book seem almost grim. We wanted to love it but it really missed the mark.

In the first few pages, I had high hopes. It starts off great. But, I was not a fan of the blurry illustrations nor the ho-hum ending. My children found it boring. Basically, it's the short story of a bear eating a sandwich from a park bench in the city (after losing his way from the forest), as told by the sandwich owner's dog. Nothing exciting. We purchased this book after seeing it on the top 2015 children's books list. Needless to say, we certainly disagree!