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Ross Collins' Mouse and Bear Stories
There's A Bear On My Chair
Poor Mouse! A bear has settled in his favourite chair and that chair just isn't big enough for two. Mouse tries all kinds of tactics to move the pesky Bear but nothing works and poor Mouse gives up. Once Mouse has gone, Bear gets up and walks home. But what's that? Is that a Mouse in Bear's house?!
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2015
13 people are currently reading
699 people want to read
About the author
Ross Collins
181 books44 followersRoss was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1972.
He would eat anything and resembled a currant bun.
As he grew up he was fond of drawing, the Bionic Man and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1994 with a First in Illustration. In the same year he won the MacMillan Children's Book Prize an achievement that opened many doors in the Big Smoke.
Ross then spent two years in London cultivating an exotic image of the scribbling Scotsman abroad.
Longing for the cold and damp of the North, Ross returned to Glasgow, where he spends his time writing and illustrating children's books, doing animation character development, walking the dug by the banks of Loch Lomond and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
from http://www.rosscollins.net/whothisguy...
He would eat anything and resembled a currant bun.
As he grew up he was fond of drawing, the Bionic Man and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1994 with a First in Illustration. In the same year he won the MacMillan Children's Book Prize an achievement that opened many doors in the Big Smoke.
Ross then spent two years in London cultivating an exotic image of the scribbling Scotsman abroad.
Longing for the cold and damp of the North, Ross returned to Glasgow, where he spends his time writing and illustrating children's books, doing animation character development, walking the dug by the banks of Loch Lomond and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
from http://www.rosscollins.net/whothisguy...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 347 reviews
September 6, 2016
The bear's demeanor kills me in this book. While the mouse drives himself insane trying to get the bear out of his chair, the bear just smirks at him with the confidence of someone not used to comeuppance - though the grin disappears from his face on the last page when the mouse gets his revenge!
The rhyming is so great in this book, I can't wait to read it to some kiddos!
The rhyming is so great in this book, I can't wait to read it to some kiddos!
March 29, 2017
A rhyming bear book, which some rhymes I have seen in other bear books. But the illustrations were cute. And the emotions of the mouse will be fun to read aloud. The best part is the end! Almost an entire star for that ending. Must read in storytime--could work in toddler and preschool.
11/1/16-11/3/16 Used this at elementary school visits. Read it to two 1st and two Kindergarten. 1st grade had to point out right away that it was rhyming. One girl in K figured it out, too. Three classes loved the ending. The last seemed to miss it. But it was cute.
1/25/17 Used in C preschool theme. They loved the pictures. They liked the reactions--and I had them show some of the emotions for me. Didn't quite catch the full humor of the ending, but still liked it.
11/1/16-11/3/16 Used this at elementary school visits. Read it to two 1st and two Kindergarten. 1st grade had to point out right away that it was rhyming. One girl in K figured it out, too. Three classes loved the ending. The last seemed to miss it. But it was cute.
1/25/17 Used in C preschool theme. They loved the pictures. They liked the reactions--and I had them show some of the emotions for me. Didn't quite catch the full humor of the ending, but still liked it.
September 29, 2019
This book was very cool in terms of the sizing and proportion of the words and illustrations. Having been told it was about refugees, I read the story in a totally different light and it made a lot of sense and the meaning became quite sad and could make for a lot of conversation about how countries treat refugees.
June 29, 2021
Poor Mouse is so frustrated that Bear is in his chair and won't budge. Mouse uses a variety of strategies to get Bear to leave. However, none of them work -- until Mouse leaves! The large, expressive illustrations and the Seuss-like rhyming text make this a fun book to read aloud. The visual humor will keep observant readers smiling, especially the deeply satisfying ending.
August 27, 2016
A mouse is completely disgusted at this bear on his chair, no room for him with that bear there! Pre-schoolers will enjoy the silliness, and the rhyme. Emerging readers will have fun reading the rhyme with great expression. The illustrations are simple and colorful, with easy to "read" expressions And, there is a funny surprise ending.
July 24, 2019
Collins’ “there’s a bear in my chair” is an earth shattering metaphorical tale of the forthcoming proletarian revolution following the impending climate catastrophe.
The story is foretold through the paradigm of frustrated proletariat mouse. He sees the owning class as represented by a well dressed, high fashion bear, literally sitting on top global wealth. The bear owns a singularity of capital derived from the global south and exploitation of the mice’ surplus labor value. There is but one “chair” which is possessed exclusively by the capitalist.
The mouse, exhausted by bittering distress, hides away - presumably plotting revolution. And lo, the bear is overcome by severe climate changes causing him to give ground to a mouse vanguard party. They practice democratic centralism and now the bear sees “there’s a mouse in my house”.
Power to the people. Solidarity with the mice.
5 stars.
The story is foretold through the paradigm of frustrated proletariat mouse. He sees the owning class as represented by a well dressed, high fashion bear, literally sitting on top global wealth. The bear owns a singularity of capital derived from the global south and exploitation of the mice’ surplus labor value. There is but one “chair” which is possessed exclusively by the capitalist.
The mouse, exhausted by bittering distress, hides away - presumably plotting revolution. And lo, the bear is overcome by severe climate changes causing him to give ground to a mouse vanguard party. They practice democratic centralism and now the bear sees “there’s a mouse in my house”.
Power to the people. Solidarity with the mice.
5 stars.
November 21, 2021
Not much in terms of words, but the pictures were cute.
October 29, 2017
I really enjoyed this book! The continuous use of rhyme throughout the story makes it a really fun read, and I love the characters. The illustrations really convey the personalities of both the bear and the mouse, showing their contrast perfectly. The book overall is really humorous, one of which will really engage your children. I believe this book would be great for drama, with lots of openings for children to be able to discuss.
April 1, 2022
An irate mouse does everything he can to shift the bear who is hogging his chair in this rhyming picture-book from Scotsman Ross Collins, but nothing seems to work. Glaring is ineffective, and his attempt to frighten the ursine interloper by jumping out in his underwear goes unnoticed. Finally, driven to distraction, the mouse goes off and finds another place to rest. Eventually getting bored, the bear heads home, only to discover that now he is the one who must deal with an intruder...
Although apparently a prolific illustrator - according to the dust-jacket blurb, he has illustrated over one hundred books for children - There's a Bear on My Chair is the first title from Ross Collins that I have read. I found it entertaining, appreciating the rhyming text - always a winner, especially when reading aloud to younger children! - the humor of the various situations outlined, and the droll charm of the illustrations. Collins does a good job capturing his two characters' emotional states, from the absolute frustration of Mouse to the contented obliviousness of Bear, adding to the appeal of his text. Recommended to children who have experienced frustration at having to share (quite a large proportion of them, I would imagine), as well as to anyone looking for rhyming tales for younger children.
Although apparently a prolific illustrator - according to the dust-jacket blurb, he has illustrated over one hundred books for children - There's a Bear on My Chair is the first title from Ross Collins that I have read. I found it entertaining, appreciating the rhyming text - always a winner, especially when reading aloud to younger children! - the humor of the various situations outlined, and the droll charm of the illustrations. Collins does a good job capturing his two characters' emotional states, from the absolute frustration of Mouse to the contented obliviousness of Bear, adding to the appeal of his text. Recommended to children who have experienced frustration at having to share (quite a large proportion of them, I would imagine), as well as to anyone looking for rhyming tales for younger children.
April 8, 2017
This one did not float my boat although I must admit to grinning at the ending. Collins does do a lovely job of keeping the attention to detail on the mouse and the bear and the use of position and size throughout works so well - especially the spread where the bear heads back to his home but I think I have read a lot of recent picturebooks which look at humorous play and rhyme with animals that this may have been one too much for me.
August 11, 2016
Very funny and love the details of the ending.
Read
November 18, 2018It was adorable and funny.
December 4, 2019
Dit is een heel leuk voorleesboek over een muis en een beer en 1 stoel. De muis komt thuis en ziet dat er plots een ijsbeer op muis zijn enigste stoel is. Wat de muis ook doet of zegt, de beer gaat niet weg. De teksten zijn kort, duidelijk en krachtig en ook de tekeningen zijn sprekend, zonder te overdrijven. Als voorlezer maakt de tekst het mogelijk om veel intonatie in het lezen te leggen en ook de rijmwoorden: 'beer', 'peer', 'tekeer'...zorgen ervoor dat de kinderen erop inpikken. De muis en de beer zijn ook heel expressief getekend, zodat je bijvoorbeeld kan zien aan de gelaatsuitdrukkingen van de muis wanneer hij boos, triest...is. Een aanwinst voor de boekenkast!
September 25, 2021
A clever, humorous, rhyming tale about a mouse's favourite chair and an unwelcome visitor. Children aged 3+ are sure to enjoy the entertaining story and detailled illustrations. The rhythmic text is a pleasure to read aloud and the consistent but complex rhyming scheme would make this an excellent resource in any junior primary school classroom. The ending is the perfect starting point for children to invent their own rhyming sequels to this wonderful story and there is lots of scope to develop children's emotional intelligence here too.
December 29, 2024
I stumbled on this book in my office when we were changing from having our own desks (and chairs!) to hotdesking (and no own chairs) so it resonated deeply with me. I could really feel for the poor little mouse whose favourite chair was occupied by a bear and there was nothing it could do to get him out of it!
The book is really cute, it rhymes and is funny and the artwork is great as well. It’s a children’s book but clearly there are situations when adults can relate too :-D
The book is really cute, it rhymes and is funny and the artwork is great as well. It’s a children’s book but clearly there are situations when adults can relate too :-D
September 22, 2017
This was a really cute book. It rhymes and has simple enough dialogue that it could be used for a preschool group but is funny enough that kindergarten children would probably enjoy it as well. This book would make for such animated reading.
July 31, 2017
I don't often laugh out loud at picture books, but I did for this one! Sure to be a hit for storytimes.
June 28, 2019
2.5yo asked to read this 4 times the day we got it from the library. I liked it too. Fun rhyming and cute expressive characters.
October 18, 2019
A comical, amusing short book which has some great opportunities to be used in KS1 when learning about rhyme.
May 15, 2020
Ross Collinsin "There's a Bear on My Chair" (Nosy Crow, 2015) on riimeihin tiukasti luottava kuvakirja, jossa karhu on mennyt istumaan hiiren tuoliin, eikä suostu lähtemään siitä pois. Eläinhahmojen ilmeikkyys tuo tälle neljännenkin tähden.
July 27, 2020
I love it! My 3 year old doesn't fully appreciate the humor but she does enjoy the book nonetheless.
August 23, 2024
Cute little book about a bear taking over a mouse’s space, leading the mouse to find a new home in the bears’.
December 1, 2024
Yes I have started adding my daughter's books to my Goodreads list. I think once you've read a book over 50 times it should be allowed....
January 3, 2025
First book of 2025! Smell ya later 2024!!!
July 26, 2017
This book will teach your children the sweetness of revenge.
September 19, 2021
rhyming. funny. engaging. a bear and a mouse with only one chair they must share... made me chuckle.
May 5, 2017
Cute book, one of the Sunshine State Young Readers Jr selections. It is not particularly wordy. I like that they change font color for emphasis. The illustrations are cute and communicative. There's a cute reversal of the problem at the end of the book.
Overall, it's a very nice picture book.
Overall, it's a very nice picture book.
July 12, 2022
3.5 stars & 4/10 hearts. This was just a really cute, funny story with excellent rhymes + rhythm and an unexpected twist!
August 8, 2018
Sometimes it is the smallest things that draw me to a picture book, sometimes it is the title, other times it’s the illustration on the cover. This time it was a bit of both, the disgruntled mouse on the cover in his knitted jumper was all it took, coupled with the title and I picked it up.
The story is what it is, there is a bear on the mouse’s chair. In clever rhyme, Collins explains the many ways the mouse has tried to remove the bear from his chair. There is a style of Dahl and a touch of Seuss in the rhymes which are fun and create a great flow as you read, coupled with great visual text to help with emphasis on certain words and highlight the mouse’s frustrations.
One of the joys of reading picture books are the accompanying illustrations. The simplest expression on a character can be the highlight for me and this is no exception. The irritated mouse and the obliviously happy bear make you joyful even before you read any of the words.
The story is fun and the rhyming gives it great rhythm as you read. There was no explanation about why there was a bear on the chair, and it doesn’t really matter it’s an enjoyable read with light humour. The biggest mystery of all though, is why this mouse had a chair that was big enough to fit a bear on it in the first place. If he had done his shopping better he wouldn’t have this problem at all for the bear would not fit on his tiny mouse chair.
This review was published on my blog Lost in a Good Book
The story is what it is, there is a bear on the mouse’s chair. In clever rhyme, Collins explains the many ways the mouse has tried to remove the bear from his chair. There is a style of Dahl and a touch of Seuss in the rhymes which are fun and create a great flow as you read, coupled with great visual text to help with emphasis on certain words and highlight the mouse’s frustrations.
One of the joys of reading picture books are the accompanying illustrations. The simplest expression on a character can be the highlight for me and this is no exception. The irritated mouse and the obliviously happy bear make you joyful even before you read any of the words.
The story is fun and the rhyming gives it great rhythm as you read. There was no explanation about why there was a bear on the chair, and it doesn’t really matter it’s an enjoyable read with light humour. The biggest mystery of all though, is why this mouse had a chair that was big enough to fit a bear on it in the first place. If he had done his shopping better he wouldn’t have this problem at all for the bear would not fit on his tiny mouse chair.
This review was published on my blog Lost in a Good Book
October 9, 2017
I read this in Target and loved it. I bought it for my grandchildren to read while at Grandmas house. I can hear them laughing now.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 347 reviews