Young children are obsessed with birthdays, laugh at Bear's grumpy manners, and are satisfied with the resolution. It works perfectly as a read-aloud, introducing young children (late preschool or kindergarten) to short chapter books, but I would hesitate recommending it to a 1st or 2nd grader reading trying to read independently. This picture book is set up as an early reader. In the end, Bear accepts Mouse's friendship and gift, in a warm resolution. But then you realize that no one had ever given Bear a birthday present before. In a similar rendition that we saw in A Visitor for Bear, Mouse keeps finding ways to get back into Bear’s house and Bear keeps finding ways to kick him out. Then Mouse comes as a balloon deliveryman, but Bear throws him out again. First, Mouse shows up waving a party invitation, but Bear can tell that Mouse wrote the card. But all Mouse wants to do is help his friend celebrate his birthday. Now it is Bear's birthday, and what's a friend to do?īear doesn't like parties or balloons Bear HATES birthdays. But Mouse perseveres and convinces Bear that he does want a visitor, and even more, a friend. In the first Bear and Mouse story, A Visitor for Bear, Bear is sure that he does not want a visitor. In the classic tradition of Frog and Toad, Bear and Mouse are two friends who are opposites in many ways. In honor of my oldest daughter's birthday, I would like to take a quick look at a new early chapter book, A Birthday for Bear.
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