Jolly Tall

Old Bear and Friends

by Jane Hissey

When a strange package arrives in the nursery, everyone is puzzled. What on earth could it be? Little Bear is sure it's full of treasure, but Duck has his doubts. 'It's probably empty,' he grumbles. But when the box speaks, it is clear that something much more exciting than treasure is inside. A beautiful brand new edition of Jane Hissey's classic playroom adventure, Jolly Tall.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Recognized in both publishing and TV, Jane Hissey is best known for her children’s book series Old Bear & Friends. First published in 1986, it later became the inspiration for BAFTA award winning TV series Old Bear Stories.

As a child growing up in Norfolk, Jane developed a love for writing and drawing. Her holidays were spent wandering fields and lanes, conjuring up fantastical worlds with pencil and sketchbook. When she wasn’t doing this she would spend days at a time sitting in her favorite tree, reading the likes of Arthur Ransome and Enid Blyton.

Jane continued to nurture her passion through adulthood and studied illustration and design, later becoming an Art teacher and settling down with her husband Ivan and their 3 children Owen, Alison & Ralph. Inspired by a childhood teddy bear given to her by her grandmother, Jane has written and illustrated more than 20 picture books featuring Old Bear.

Her tales of adventure and discovery are both heartwarming and fun, captivating the imaginations of children and adults alike. Her illustrations are unique, using layers of colour pencil to build a more full & finely detailed finished image.

The Old Bear & Friends series has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide!

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old favourite - beautiful illustrations that bring you Back to the TV Series of Old Bear.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "Jolly Tall", the toys from Old Bear's playroom meet a new friend, initially a mysterious presence as he is hidden in a box. I loved the detailed illustrations and the wit of the characters and dialogue.

[Dave Relph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I approach this as a 31 year old childless man who was bought this book as an amusing birthday present by my older sister because Little Bear was a spitting image of my childhood teddy bear so you’ll have to forgive this emotionally charged review.

Firstly, I took an instant dislike to Bramwell, the guy is a real piece of work, so passive aggressive. He starts out by overconfidently knitting the worst scarf of all time then blaming others for his own failure, it’s a real shame that he’s a beneficiary of circumstance later on by the conveniently timely arrival of a giraffe.

Little Bear is innocence personified, the child in all of us. He lets others deal with potential danger when it’s unknown, but has enough optimism to cater to the possibility of treasure. Once the danger becomes known, he’s reckless abandon all the way, even going so far as to somehow achieve the ability to fly across a room, but lack the nerve to fall from a safe height unassisted even though he’s made of soft material.

This seemingly heartwarming tale has such sinister undertones as the innocent toys undergo a prison break operation with no forethought or consideration of the consequences. Their willingness to blindly trust the giraffe and assimilate him into the collective without question could be their downfall in future volumes.

[Pippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was younger and found it equally charming re-reading it now. I could see its usefulness in teaching KS1 as it would be engaging for the children to guess what is in the box or perhaps create a house out of a box for a craft project. It mentions the days of the week so you could incorporate some practice of those and it gives facts that you could link with science such as, "giraffes sleep standing up". It is great for using as a jumping off point for a discussion on fears for PSHE by bringing in Jolly's fear of heights. There are also conversations to be had about the meaning of the word "jolly" in this context and how its meaning has changed over the last 100 years. I liked the way Jane Hissey introduced "foe" as a word that the characters (and the children reading) are not sure of so they hypothesise its correct usage in a sentence. I found myself noticing that the character of Duck was similar to A.A. Milne's Eeyore in that he was a bit grumpy and preferred to look on the pessimistic side of life. This would be useful to draw upon when discussing differing personalities.

[Kay Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story about children finding a new friend "Jolly" Giraffe.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like many books written in the 80's and 90's have so many words!

[Poppy Thorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt very nostalgic when I read this book from my childhood to my two children. It's a lovely story and I'd forgotten about the toy knitting the scarf, which is one of my favourite things to do!

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The love for this book was so deeply routed in me it made the nostalgia hit hard

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.70 stars (5/10 hearts). We had this when I was a kid, and we all adored it. It's so cute, with all the adorable teddies, and the lovely text, and the wholesome little story. This is what sparked my love for cardboard houses and curtains, I think. ;) Rereading it now after so many years to my own siblings, I still love it. It's sweet and well-written, and they loved it as much as I do. :)

Content: 1 euphemism

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think this book could be cuter than the other book of hers that I read, but it is. A teddy bear that knits scarves and a toy giraffe named Jolly Tall (Jolly for short), that says it all. Now I really want to own all of her books they're as good as the two I've already read.

[Snoozie Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading this story to my little boy. I think it is a lovely book and the reason for the name makes me smile every time.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I even have a Jolly Tall stuffed animal - well, I had to give it away to my daughter when she was little. :-)! It is one of her very favorites. I love Jane Hissey's simple, beautiful stories.

[Danielle Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Hissey, how you marked my childhood with wonderful stories and sparked my imagination.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great with the mystery of what the new thing was in the normal surrondings, they never failed to make me laugh.

[Katy W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't quite decided what age group these are aimed at. Grandparents more than toddlers perhaps.

[Zayneea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute story where the toys make a new friend - Jolly Tall the giraffe.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asher liked this story - though I found it a bit tedious. The stuffed animals encounter a new friend stuck in a box.

The illustrations are very cute and cuddly looking.