Ginger Bear

by Mini Grey

Any child who loves cookies will enjoy this inventive tale of Ginger Bear, a cookie in the shape of a bear, who sets out to avoid being eaten. As she did with Traction Man Is Here! and The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon , Mini Grey has created a totally original book that is fun to read and fun to look at.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Food, Storytime, Animals, Adventure, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mini Grey was given her name after being born in a Mini in a car park in Newport, Wales. She studied for an MA in Sequential Illustration at Brighton under the tutelage of John Vernon Lord. Mini also worked as a primary school teacher in Oxford, where she now lives. Her books includeEgg Drop, The Pea and the Princess (shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), Biscuit Bear(winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award), Traction Man is Here (winner of the Boston Horn Book Award and shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon (winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze Award and winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), and Traction Man meets Turbodog. Mini Grey is one of the Big Picture's ten Best New Illustrators. (source: https://www.penguin.co.uk/puffin/auth...)

Reviews

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a lovely read!
I liked the fact that the author made the main character of the picture book to be a biscuit because this added some humour to both the story and the illustrations.
Also, what I liked about the book was that it was unpredictable and this made me want to read on and find out what may happen next.
This picture book could be used to explore personifcation and how the author has used this technique with the biscuit bears. This could be developed further by getting the children to create their own piece of writing using this technique which could later be displayed and presented.

[Mel Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is aimed towards key stage one but can still be enjoyed by nursery aged children. As a whole class story book or to read to a small group, this book will have children engaged from the beginning to the end. The story begins when Horace makes a biscuit in the shape of a bear, however every time he goes to eat his biscuit bear there is always a reason why he can't. It's too hot, he is about to eat his dinner or because he has just brushed his teeth. Horace eventually goes to bed still having not eaten his biscuit bear. During the night biscuit bear awakes but finds that he has no one to play with, so he decides to make himself some biscuit friends. Once he has baked his biscuit friends, he invites them to his circus. Disaster soon strikes when, preoccupied with the exciting circus, they fail to notice the shadow looming in the doorway. Bongo the dog races into the kitchen and causes chaos, luckily biscuit bear manages to hide. When Horace awakes the next morning biscuit bear is nowhere to be seen. He found a safe place to hide, somewhere that people can see him all year round. This story is accompanied by lovely illustrations that will lead the children on an adventure with biscuit bear.

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

01 January 2009

t's good, and the PandaBat read it all to himself! Still, it feels like an earlier effort by an artist and writer who will soon be totally awesome. Or am I reading to much into my love for Traction Man and my knowledge of the pub date?

***

03 November 2022


I am a little sick and a little cranky, but I didn't love it this time either.

Library copy

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only would this this be an enjoyable read for KS1, but as a themed role-play area for EYFS children!

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I REALLY dig Mini Grey's illustrations - they're just so fun and full of color. The composition of the images and words on the page bring so much more fun to the story. I had a great time reading this to my nephew, but went back to take more time to enjoy the illustrations.

[A.m. Layet · Rating 5 out of 5]

From start to finish this was a winner! It had a wonderful combination of ingredients: a cute central character, a nail biting story line and some yummy looking pictures. I read it to my daughter, who loved it, then took it into school to share with the year 1 class, who all loved it too!

[Samuel Domenico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biscuit Bear was a quirky picture by Mini Grey and I enjoyed, what I felt were literacy-focused aspects of the book. I feel it is suited to year 1, due the use of vocabulary.

Vocabulary use was focused on baking, time phrases and use of a variety of descriptive language. What is beneficial about this book is that it introduced these words, that may be new to the reader, in a visual format. This was done through bold text, or graphic representations of the words such as with "Fluffy" the word was illustrated to look fluffy. This book would be a great start for themed descriptive writing.

The narrative structure flowed well and reminded children of important lessons such as, letting the parent touch the oven and the importance of waiting. However, while the ending of the book was tied up for Biscuit Bear, I would to have liked to have seen more of a conclusive ending for Horace and felt something was missing.

[Francesca Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story! It's so imaginative about what a biscuit bear gets up to. A boy called Horace makes a biscuit in the shape of a bear but every time he tries to eat it his mother comes up with an excuse not to. This gives the biscuit bear a chance to come alive an escape. The book follows the biscuit bears adventures and events of making some biscuit friends, creating a circus and escaping from Bongo the dog who wants to eat the biscuits up. This made the biscuit bear realise he needed to go somewhere safe. This happened to be in a display of a pastry shop. Poor Horace discovered that his biscuit bear had disappeared.

I think there could be some great links to cooking in this book. The bear talks about the ingredients to make a biscuit and the equipment used which is displayed in the book could be a great discussion point.

[Emma Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

KS1 book- Reception or Year 1.

Shared Reading: Could become a topic of the week. Start reading the book on a Monday and make it the theme of the week and focus work topics on the book.

English: The children could rewrite a part of the story, draw story boards, role play and phonics. Here would be a good opportunity for story maps and talk for writing. Chidren could also write a similar story about an inanimate object that comes to life and has to overcome different obstacles- dependent on ability and age group.

Cookery: Bake their own biscuit bears- consideration for the process within the story. Could use these for a role play session.

Maths: Counting to the bears. How many could he make in a certain amount of time.

[Pippa James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biscuit Bear is a picture book about a boy who bakes a bear shaped biscuit which comes to life at midnight. Written by Mini Grey, the book it pleasing to look at and is a tale told from the biscuti's point of view. Grey creates a night-world where fear can be seen off and even biscuits like to have a chance at life. The book has educational aspects such as a page with numbers down the side, helping children with their counting.

[Libby Haydon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book my Mini Grey about a biscuit bear who realises he needs to find a place to be safe, where he wont be eaten. Some PSED within the book where the Horace the boy who made the biscuit learns he cant eat the biscuit as its too hot, or its time for dinner. Its a lovely written book but its more fun that anything else.

[Hollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and humorous read all about Biscuit Bear who is the main character. I particularly liked the detailed and imaginative illustrations, as well as the presentation of the words. For example, the letters within the word ‘fluffy’ were actually portrayed as fluffy! Another great book by Mini Grey.

[August · Rating 5 out of 5]

took a quick intermission from writing summaries for class and oh my what a treat ! the imagery drew me in and the plot kept me there -- quite a thrilling book which i was not expecting but i love the ending and how it teaches its readers quite an important lesson about life, control, and consumption.

[Sarah Gerard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this to a reception class and they absolutely loved it (so much so that they didn’t want to get ready for their break!) A couple even asked if they could look at the pictures and re-read the book after I had finished reading it! Was so lovely to see children so absorbed and engaged in a book.

[Syntha Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be great for peschool storytime involving baking or cookies

[Paul Browne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and clever use of text. Could be used for a variety of age groups as easy to engage discussion about various topics, cooking, the circus, feeling safe etc.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute and clever book!

[Philippa Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very bizzare.... not really sure what to make of it

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the visual production of this book more than the storyline, which was okay but a bit confusing in the wrap-up.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book with themes of resilience. Could also relate to food technology lessons or discussions about how food is produced and consumed.

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story - it would be wonderful for reception and KS1 children.

[Leah Hopgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good illustration. Hard to find moral for young reader.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd little book. Cute but odd.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

とってもかわいい絵本。
この絵本を読んでからは毎日、このGinger Bearの絵を描いてる。

[kana · Rating 2 out of 5]

mom is mean for no reason

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ginger bear has quite the life once he is baked up, from baking a bunch of friends to performing in a circus it's very adventurous for a little cookie bear

[Emma Wadsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is told from a narrative point of view, who is telling the adventures of a Biscuit Bear, made by Horace. Biscuit Bear has been personified and made the main character of the book through magically coming to life which will definitely captivate young readers. Biscuit Bear has lots of fun creating his own biscuit family which is then sadly eaten by Horace’s dog. Biscuit Bear then finds a place where all biscuits can be safe; he overcomes adversity. There was no obvious structure, the plot itself was quite unpredictable and random and the physical structure of the book was quite varied too with lots of different fonts and layout of the words which made it visually exciting.
It was a very light-hearted story with a variety of themes including baking, the circus, bedtime routine, determination/resilience and winter. The storyline itself was quite unpredictable, I didn’t know how it was going to end or what was going to happen on the next page which made me want to keep reading on to find out what would happen next.
The illustrations were bright and colourful which made it visually nice to look at whilst reading; it also meant that the images really came to life in my head. The fonts and font sizes were varied which again made it a more exciting read.
I think it could be used in lots of different ways in the classroom due to its unpredictability and the range of themes in the book. There are clear themes around baking, the circus, bedtime routine and winter. Depending on their age, the students could write their own stories about an inanimate object, or more specifically around baking different shaped animals or creatures that come alive. Subject links with art due to the illustrations, science and maths (baking), drama (children can act out specific scenes such as the circus scene, Horace’s bedtime routine etc.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all the off-beat oddness that Mini Grey seems drawn to, she perfectly captures the imaginary world that children often give to inanimate objects. Ginger Bear (known as Biscuit Bear in the UK) is a cookie made by Horace as he "helps" his mom with baking. Luckily for Ginger Bear (and us), Horace is stopped from eating his cookie and thus ending the story early. Instead Ginger Bear wakes in the night and decides to literally make some friends who then put on an impromptu circus. When Bongo the dog puts an end to the fun, Ginger Bear escapes to a much longer life than most cookies can aspire to although his friends aren't so lucky. Grey's mixed-media illustrations match the odd story with the spread of Horace asleep in bed a good example: Plastic sheep march overhead as Horace sleeps under a bedspread decorated with cookies. The text is rarely arranged linearly on the page but rather moves in and out of the action as needed. With lots to discover in the illustrations, Ginger Bear is a book that children will want to look at and read multiple times even though it's just a little left of center for most adults.

[Georgina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by mini grey we have been using as our 'book of the week' for maths week.
From this text we were able to create tasks for many aspects of the curriculum, but primarily the focus was to be in maths. In science we have just started a new topic on 'using electricity' and the text was incorporated to identify items that does and does not use electricity. In English the pupils were writing instructional text informing people how to make a biscuit bear.
In maths we were able to cover a wide range of mathematical topics. We covered repeated patters, using Horace's bed covers as an example of a repeated pattern, fractions by giving them biscuit bear related word problems using fractions, time by giving them time problems related to timings for baking etc.
these are just some examples of how one good piece of literature can be applied to many aspects of the curriculum for the children and it can be related able because you know that all children have had the opportunity to read and understand the text.

[Alma Begum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biscuit Bear by Mini Grey

Biscuit Bear comes to life! This story involves magic. A little boy bakes a biscuit, which he is desperately trying to eat but his mother does not let him. He places his biscuit near his pillow and falls asleep. When, suddenly Biscuit Bear comes alive and bakes some friends of his own. They create a circus and enjoy themselves when, unfortunately, there is a dog looming around. Find out what happens to Biscuit Bear!

This story has colourful pictures, amazing characters and a very catchy storyline. This book would be enjoyed by nursery, Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2. This book can be used to write recipes for a biscuit (instructional text), story writing and report writing. Drama and role-play can be used to act out the story. Children can create missing posters for Biscuit. The book provides ample of opportunities for activities to be completed.

This story is similar to Traction Man, Traction Man and Turbo Dog.