The Lazy Bear

by Brian Wildsmith

A normally thoughtful bear becomes lazy and downright unkind after he discovers a wagon to play with.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Brian Wildsmith (1930-2016) was raised in a small mining village in Yorkshire, England, where, he says, "Everything was grey. There wasn't any colour. It was all up to my imagination. I had to draw in my head..."

He won a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art where he studied for three years. For a while he taught music at the Royal Military School of Music, but then gave it up so that he could paint full time.

He has deservedly earned a reputation as one of the greatest living children's illustrators. In 1962, he published his first children's book, ABC, for which he was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal, Britain's equivalent to the Caldecott Medal. He was also a runner up for this medal for The Owl and the Woodpecker.

Wildsmith has said: "I believe that beautiful picture books are vitally important in subconsciously forming a child's visual appreciation, which will bear fruit in later life."

In 1994, the Brian Wildsmith Art Museum was established in Izukogen, a town south of Tokyo, Japan. Almost one and a half million people visited a traveling exhibition of his work in 2005. Eight hundred of his paintings are on loan to the museum.

Brian is married, has four children, and currently lives in the south of France.

— Source

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The discovery of a wagon leads to discord among bear and his woodland pals.

GORGEOUS illustrations by Wildsmith!

[Katie Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lazy Bear is a story about a bear who finds a wagon at the bottom of a hill, pushes it to the top and rides it all the way down. On the realisation how how fun this activity is, he attempts to find a way of enjoying it without the added effort of pushing it back up the hill... to the detriment of his animal friends. The normally thoughtful bear becomes lazy and unkind and his animal friends need to work out how to sort the situation and teach the bear a lesson about importance of teamwork.

This story has a gentle but powerful message about teamwork, being kind, realising when you have done something wrong and saying sorry. Additionally it is a lighthearted entrance into the topic of transportation and forces for KS1 science. The illustrations are beautiful and could be used as an intro into collage or printing in an art lesson.

[Louise O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story with a good message, not to take advantage of people. Stunning psychedelic illustrations, full of colour.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copyright 1973 in the early part of Brian Wildsmith’s artistic career, these illustrations are his signature vivid colors with detail of a number of the bear’s animal friends. I just was not so entertained by the story.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of Wildsmith's fables, this time about a bear who discovers an abandoned wagon at the top of a hill. The curious bear climbs into the wagon and accidentally takes a breakneck ride to the bottom of the hill. He decides he likes the experience, so he pushes the wagon back to the top of the hill and rides down again.

It doesn't take the bear long to figure out that the ride down is the fun part, and the heavy uphill slog is, well, a slog. He invites three of his animal friends -- a goat, a deer, and a raccoon -- to join the fun, but there's a catch. They get to ride downhill in the wagon with the bear, but they must do the hard work of pushing the wagon back uphill -- with the bear in it!

After a while, the goat figures out how to get out of this unpleasant situation, and the goat, deer, and raccoon teach the bear a lesson about the importance of teamwork.

Wildsmith's trademark vibrant illustrations put this rather run-of-the-mill story over the top.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for many reasons, one being that I read it to my own children many many years ago. It was reprinted through the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The bear finds a wagon at the top of a hill and also finds how much fun riding the wagon downhill can be. But he quickly discovers that pushing the wagon uphill is not so much fun, so he bullies his friends into pushing him uphill in exchange for a ride downhill. But when his friends get tired of pushing him uphill they agree on a plan to push him downhill on the other side, where he lands in the pond. Then Bear learns the lesson about cooperation and treating your friends fairly. He pushes them uphill many times to make up for the many times they pushed him, and they all enjoy the downhill rides together.

[Carmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lazy bear gets comeuppance and learns important lesson- don't manipulate and take advantage of your friends.

used at storytime.

[Unidragonfrag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the moral, the pictures were crazy lol

[Elke Ursin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in the book are FANTASTIC!!! I just loved everything about this book!