Bear Can’t Sleep

The snow is falling, winter has arrived, and it is time for all good bears to be asleep for the winter hibernation. But Bear can’t sleep! Mouse comes into the cave to make sure the fire is going and finds Bear still awake. Mouse makes tea and other woodland animals hear them talking and stop by to find out what could possibly be going on. Bear should be asleep, but he can’t! Badger and Hare make warm milk, the animals sing a lullaby, but Bear can’t sleep. Bear decides there is only one thing he can do, and that is to tell a story, one he has never told before. Can all these friends find a way to help Bear sleep?

Author Karma Wilson and illustrator Jane Chapman have built quite a wonderful franchise with their enchanting Bear books. This is a welcome addition to the series. The story is funny and sweet, written in lovely lyrical rhyme, and little ones will delight in the humor on every page, not just from the text but from the illustrations, with plenty of silly details to keep the giggles coming. Youngsters will ask for this to be read over and over and over.