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Bear
The hilarious and heartwarming tale of a magical friendship between a girl and a polar bear, from beloved author of The Snowman, Raymond Briggs.
One night a great big, white polar bear comes to stay with Tilly. He has black hooked claws and huge yellow teeth; but his white furry coat is warm and soft and Tilly decides he's the cuddliest thing in the whole world.
Tilly soon finds out that a big bear can cause big problems - he takes a LOT of looking after! When she describes the bear's latest antics to her parents they think he's a figment of her imagination - but is he?
A brilliantly clever and funny tale about an unlikely friendship, from beloved children's author Raymond Briggs.
More classic Raymond Briggs stories:
The Snowman - a wordless picture book
Father Christmas
Father Christmas Goes on Holiday
The Elephant and the Bad Baby
Jim and the Beanstalk
One night a great big, white polar bear comes to stay with Tilly. He has black hooked claws and huge yellow teeth; but his white furry coat is warm and soft and Tilly decides he's the cuddliest thing in the whole world.
Tilly soon finds out that a big bear can cause big problems - he takes a LOT of looking after! When she describes the bear's latest antics to her parents they think he's a figment of her imagination - but is he?
A brilliantly clever and funny tale about an unlikely friendship, from beloved children's author Raymond Briggs.
More classic Raymond Briggs stories:
The Snowman - a wordless picture book
Father Christmas
Father Christmas Goes on Holiday
The Elephant and the Bad Baby
Jim and the Beanstalk
40 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Briggs
166 books242 followersRaymond Redvers Briggs was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who had achieved critical and popular success among adults and children. He was best known for his story "The Snowman", which is shown every Christmas on British television in cartoon form and on the stage as a musical.
His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known work when in 1982 it was made into an Oscar nominated animated cartoon, that has been shown every year since on British television.
Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of Commons for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a Panorama documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of Father Christmas. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with Peter Sallis in the male lead role, and subsequently an animated film, featuring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands War. However, Briggs continued to produce humour for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.
He was recognized as The Children's Author of the Year in 1993 by the British Book Awards. His graphic novel Ethel and Ernest, which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards.
His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known work when in 1982 it was made into an Oscar nominated animated cartoon, that has been shown every year since on British television.
Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of Commons for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a Panorama documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of Father Christmas. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with Peter Sallis in the male lead role, and subsequently an animated film, featuring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands War. However, Briggs continued to produce humour for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.
He was recognized as The Children's Author of the Year in 1993 by the British Book Awards. His graphic novel Ethel and Ernest, which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
December 16, 2022
This is a huge book, nearly A3. Some parts are like a graphic novel, some have full page pictures and text. We loved this story, first read over a decade ago, we got to know a film version that is a regular festive viewing. Luckily we found this oversized book at a book fayre recently and have so enjoyed seeing these wonderful illustrations again.
A polar bear climbs in through a young girls window, the drawings are exquisite, and the imagination of this illustrator in capturing the poses of a polar bear cuddling a small child and trying to climb into a bed much smaller than himself is excellent. We loved how the reader saw how the parents pretended to go along with the girls 'game' that she had a polar bear living upstairs, when the reader could see that the joke was on them and there actually was one. You could also see the odd moment when the polar bear facts that Tilly was relating to her parents proved our suspicions that the bear did exist. There were also some revealing parts where Tilly spoke to the bear unkindly, that the reader could read into Tilly's relationship with her parents perhaps. The reader was shown how Tilly's mum, busy to get off to work used similar cross expressions with Tilly.
Rereading this today, it struck me again the irony that the author who seems from everything I have read about him or heard him say on radio programmes or read in his own work, seems so miserable, pessimistic and generally dissatisfied with life writes such magical childhood experience stories. Perhaps this was a time in his life he was happy and as an adult tries to recreate this?
This is a hugely enjoyable story, and anyone who has enjoyed this, I would urge to watch the animated film version that has some beautiful extra sequences. The only downside for us, both with the book and the film, is that Tilly gets cross and frustrated with the bear and doesn't treat the bear kindly in places, I think we are meant to see this as Tilly treating the bear as she has experienced herself perhaps but when my children read this and saw this they both felt fed up with the way Tilly treated the bear. It's interesting that there was a film version of the book, that added parts, and now we would love to see a book version of the film.
A polar bear climbs in through a young girls window, the drawings are exquisite, and the imagination of this illustrator in capturing the poses of a polar bear cuddling a small child and trying to climb into a bed much smaller than himself is excellent. We loved how the reader saw how the parents pretended to go along with the girls 'game' that she had a polar bear living upstairs, when the reader could see that the joke was on them and there actually was one. You could also see the odd moment when the polar bear facts that Tilly was relating to her parents proved our suspicions that the bear did exist. There were also some revealing parts where Tilly spoke to the bear unkindly, that the reader could read into Tilly's relationship with her parents perhaps. The reader was shown how Tilly's mum, busy to get off to work used similar cross expressions with Tilly.
Rereading this today, it struck me again the irony that the author who seems from everything I have read about him or heard him say on radio programmes or read in his own work, seems so miserable, pessimistic and generally dissatisfied with life writes such magical childhood experience stories. Perhaps this was a time in his life he was happy and as an adult tries to recreate this?
This is a hugely enjoyable story, and anyone who has enjoyed this, I would urge to watch the animated film version that has some beautiful extra sequences. The only downside for us, both with the book and the film, is that Tilly gets cross and frustrated with the bear and doesn't treat the bear kindly in places, I think we are meant to see this as Tilly treating the bear as she has experienced herself perhaps but when my children read this and saw this they both felt fed up with the way Tilly treated the bear. It's interesting that there was a film version of the book, that added parts, and now we would love to see a book version of the film.
February 22, 2021
În mare, mi-a plăcut ideea unei prietenii imprevizibile și a fost o poveste drăguță despre cum aparențele pot înșela și poți găsi dragoste și înțelegere în cele mai neașteptate momente. Dar sub nicio formă nu recomand să fie lăsată pe mâna copiilor care știu să citească. Doar să parcurgeți împreună imaginile, să găsiți o explicație frumoasă pentru cele în care fata e desfigurată de nervi și să treceți peste apelativele oribile. Recenzia aici: https://bit.ly/3qJu3x1.
February 20, 2021
Acclaimed British illustrator and children's author Raymond Briggs, whose picture-books
The Snowman
and
Father Christmas
are considered modern classics, relates the story of a young girl and her visit with a bear in this oversized title. Tucked into bed one night by her mother, Tilly finds herself being visited by a massive white polar bear, who somehow gets into bed with her, and who hangs around the house on the following day. Tilly's indulgent parents humor her talk of the bear, clearly not believing in him, but Tilly herself finds that she must work hard to clean up after this ursine visitor. Despite that fact, she is distraught when the visit comes to an end...
Despite having enjoyed the books from Briggs that I have read, I don't seem to have sought out more of his titles, so I am thankful to my friend Hilary for recommending this one to me. It pairs an engaging, perceptively-told story with gorgeous illustrations. The format alternates between paneled pages, which look almost like a cartoon or graphic novel in structure, and illustrations that take up an entire page. The narrative explores how Tilly perceives and interacts with her visitor vs. how her parents perceive him, and how they perceive Tilly's stories of him, offering an amusing but warmhearted commentary on the imaginative lives of children, and how those lives are often received by the adults in their lives. Was the bear real? Clearly he was, in this story, but Briggs invites us to consider the truth that even if he had not been corporeal, the bear would still have been "real." Recommended to picture-book lovers looking for engaging stories about children and their secret lives, or featuring polar bears (always so oddly benign in children's literature).
Despite having enjoyed the books from Briggs that I have read, I don't seem to have sought out more of his titles, so I am thankful to my friend Hilary for recommending this one to me. It pairs an engaging, perceptively-told story with gorgeous illustrations. The format alternates between paneled pages, which look almost like a cartoon or graphic novel in structure, and illustrations that take up an entire page. The narrative explores how Tilly perceives and interacts with her visitor vs. how her parents perceive him, and how they perceive Tilly's stories of him, offering an amusing but warmhearted commentary on the imaginative lives of children, and how those lives are often received by the adults in their lives. Was the bear real? Clearly he was, in this story, but Briggs invites us to consider the truth that even if he had not been corporeal, the bear would still have been "real." Recommended to picture-book lovers looking for engaging stories about children and their secret lives, or featuring polar bears (always so oddly benign in children's literature).
July 31, 2019
my daughter and I enjoyed this story very much....
August 21, 2022
Lovely to revisit these books, obviously in this wake of his passing. R.I.P. But what wonderful books.
November 9, 2012
Raymond Briggs is one of my favorite picture book creators. He is probably best known for "The Snowman" which was made into an animation where the artwork stayed true to Briggs' recognisable style. I find his books appealing to children of all ages and to adults. They are all written with a sensitivity to the world children inhabit and this is very true of "The Bear".
Tilly is visited by a bear in the night. This is not a cute, cuddly bear but a very real bear who comes with very real problems! Among other themes, this book explores the fact that wild animals cannot be tamed and must be treated with respect and caution. It also explores familial relationships and the blurred lines between imagination and reality. The illustrations have a soft, dream-like quality making this a calming book to read, suitable for story time and the end of the day in a KS1 classroom. There is plenty of room for interpretation and prediction by the children while you are reading the story to them.
Tilly is visited by a bear in the night. This is not a cute, cuddly bear but a very real bear who comes with very real problems! Among other themes, this book explores the fact that wild animals cannot be tamed and must be treated with respect and caution. It also explores familial relationships and the blurred lines between imagination and reality. The illustrations have a soft, dream-like quality making this a calming book to read, suitable for story time and the end of the day in a KS1 classroom. There is plenty of room for interpretation and prediction by the children while you are reading the story to them.
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December 19, 2018A great big bear climbs into a girl's window, and proves to be very warm and good to hug, albeit a bit of a handful at times. Which is to say, for me it's basically familiar scenes from home life, except that where Briggs' bear climbs out of the window again the next night, as of today I've stuck around for a decade, and not just because there are no ice floes to go back to anymore.
May 21, 2012
cute story about a Polar Bear trying to live in a little girls house.
March 29, 2018
Love the pictures, could do without the text.
September 14, 2014
I loved the illustrations in this book and the idea of it, but I thought the part about the bear coming in through the girl's window could be a bit frightening. More disturbing was the language the girl uses to talk to the bear towards the end, telling him that she "hates" him and that he's awful and even calling him "stupid" at one point. Not sure any of that was necessary for little people who repeat most things they hear. The premise is that a polar bear comes through a little girl's window and she decides to keep it and her parents play along because, in fact, it is somewhat an imaginary bear.
December 4, 2007
Summary: Teby has a dream about a giant polar bear entering her room through a window and spending the day with her. Teby gets the experience of a lifetime spending the day loving this bear, cleaning up after it, and trying to talk to her parents about her friend.
Response: The pictures in this book were what told the entire story. Teby was a great character, and the bear reminded me of when I was a little girl and used my imagination to create a world outide of my own.
Response: The pictures in this book were what told the entire story. Teby was a great character, and the bear reminded me of when I was a little girl and used my imagination to create a world outide of my own.
March 26, 2019
I was not expecting to like this much! I checked it out thinking I couldn't read it to my kiddos -- comic format, dialogue only, talk about poo and pee AND usage of the word stupid? No way. But I wanted to read it. It is actually very sweet. I know nothing of The Snowman that this author is apparently famous for, but I do quite like this story.
October 17, 2019
Much more sophisticated and complex than the Snowman in several ways. In story, the relationship between the child and bear tells more about the characters, but what I love most about this story is the imagery. The approach of the bear through the frosty window and the immensity of the bear. The bear flows in massive volume while being light as a dream.
A beautiful following to “The Snowman”.
A beautiful following to “The Snowman”.
December 30, 2009
My son seemed to like this book. I wasn't as impressed though. The pictures were well done though.
June 18, 2013
I absolutely love this book. It is an amazing story and I congratulate the author on this great job.
December 28, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2019
It was alright but I won't read it to my children.
Read
October 17, 2019I want to
Fly
Ok
Fly
Ok
July 6, 2023
Another classic from Raymond Briggs. Though perhaps not quite as poignant at The Snowman, this tale of Tillie and her brief time with a polar bear is a delight. No reason can exist for why a polar bear decides to come visit Tillie, stay a while, and then follow the sun away, but her attempts to deal with having a polar bear in the house, especially when it does its business in the house, are beautifully rendered, funny, and moving. We might be tempted to believe that Tillie merely has a vivid imagination, and of course that could be the case, but the final images in the book are of the bear after it has departed, implying that on some level it exists independently of Tillie's mind, and the dialogue also suggests that Tillie would not know what a polar bear was so would be unlikely to fantasize about one. The book is perhaps therefore more about the beep need we have for the magical and uncanny than simply about imagination. Anyway, a must-have for devotees of picture books and graphic novels--as indeed many of Briggs's books are.
December 24, 2022
Obviously there’s a lot of crossover here with The Snowman, but ultimately it feels like Briggs trying his hand at something along the lines of the Tiger Who Came To Tea. It’s a genuinely beautiful book, brisk and funny but also melancholy and slightly spooky. It really reminds you of the great loss we now have after his death. I particularly like how colossal and monumental the bear is, this ghostly void on each page taking up the room in the house. I suspect that Briggs is probably saying something about intimacy here and ageing, but I’ll need to reread it to really consider this. Certainly the adaptation unnecessarily expands the plot, losing some of the necessary ambiguity in the process (ironic considering how the Snowman absolutely does not do this, hence why it’s still so emotionally rich decades later)
January 12, 2022
Continuing the trend of reading to my son before bed and we have "The Bear" by Raymond Briggs illustrator of the brilliant "The Snowman". This is a very nice book, very large about A4 size in paper. The illustrations are unique and have a sketchy watercolor feel to them. The story itself is a very sweet reminder of the innocence and imagination of young children.
September 18, 2025
The magical bookcover called to me at the library. A Polar Bear mysteriously shows up and lives in Tilly's home for a night and a day. The drawings are lovely throughout some are arranged like comic layouts others larger than life that take over the oversized pages. The unnamed bear somehow remains enormous and elusive, mysterious and yet predictably transparent- He is a Bear.
July 19, 2018
Minimal words, but the illustrations are so rich that it works. Surprisingly heart tugging. Read it with a 2nd grader and we both really enjoyed it. Of course younger children would enjoy it too. I love that the child knows more than the parents without the parents being fools.
January 16, 2020
My daughters Library book, a very interesting read.The story is very imaginative and seemingly out there but it's a childhood innocence we tend to forget as we get older. A child is always so pure in their wonder, trust, and immagination.
March 9, 2017
Upeasti kuvitettu, mutta tarina jäi vähän puolitiehen.
March 26, 2020
A beautifully illustrated and written children’s book about a bear.
October 24, 2022
Lovely bear
April 1, 2023
I’m a 72 year old newly hooked on children’s stories by Raymond Briggs. A cute story lovely illustrated. Nice escapism to these sad times.
February 27, 2024
loneliness, abandon, death, coming of age and the world through a child's eyes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews