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Bear with Bear
Nine-year-old Bear is set on having a critter as a pet. After failed attempts to adopt beetles and snails, he has to settle on a book with pictures of bugs. This is a great opportunity for him to annoy his little sister, Penelope, who is afraid of bugs.
When his parents decide to bring home a cat to help Penelope with her nightmares, Bear helps Kitty find her wild side. As a consequence, Penelope’s nightmares get even worse!
Over-tired Mom is about to give in on the snake debate, which seems to be a perfect solution for all, but Bear has other plans...
When his parents decide to bring home a cat to help Penelope with her nightmares, Bear helps Kitty find her wild side. As a consequence, Penelope’s nightmares get even worse!
Over-tired Mom is about to give in on the snake debate, which seems to be a perfect solution for all, but Bear has other plans...
- GenresChildrensPicture Books
31 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 10, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 6, 2016
Bear with Bear is a fun, interactive children’s ebook. It tells the story of nine year old Bear, who really wants a pet, any pet, but his most favourite animal is a snake. Bear has a little sister, Penelope, who he drives crazy with his love of critters. From maggots to beetle and even ticks, Bear wants to keep them all as pets.
However, all these critters are causing his sister to have nightmares, which in turn means that their parents get no sleep, so they come up with a plan. They will buy their daughter a kitten who will comfort her and stop her having nightmares. Unfortunately, they are wrong, so the kitten goes back and they come home with a puppy, but that doesn’t go according to plan either.
Will anything help them get a good night’s sleep? Will Bear get his much wanted snake?
Bear with Bear is an unusual book. It is both a fictional and non fictional book. It is a fun, interesting story, based on real events that happened in the author’s life. Hagit R Oron wanted to invite the reader to step behind the scenes and discover the stories that inspired her to write, as well as her family’s pets.
Children can either click on the ‘True Story – Yes or No’ which is at the bottom of each page to find out if that part of the story and interesting facts are true, or they can wait until they get to the end of the book, and read all these added pages together.
I think that it is a great idea, and award Bear with Bear a full five stars.
Reviewed by Stacey at www.whisperingstories.com
However, all these critters are causing his sister to have nightmares, which in turn means that their parents get no sleep, so they come up with a plan. They will buy their daughter a kitten who will comfort her and stop her having nightmares. Unfortunately, they are wrong, so the kitten goes back and they come home with a puppy, but that doesn’t go according to plan either.
Will anything help them get a good night’s sleep? Will Bear get his much wanted snake?
Bear with Bear is an unusual book. It is both a fictional and non fictional book. It is a fun, interesting story, based on real events that happened in the author’s life. Hagit R Oron wanted to invite the reader to step behind the scenes and discover the stories that inspired her to write, as well as her family’s pets.
Children can either click on the ‘True Story – Yes or No’ which is at the bottom of each page to find out if that part of the story and interesting facts are true, or they can wait until they get to the end of the book, and read all these added pages together.
I think that it is a great idea, and award Bear with Bear a full five stars.
Reviewed by Stacey at www.whisperingstories.com
November 16, 2016
Hagit Oron’s Bear with Bear is a children’s ebook for the modern age, combining fun story-telling, personal involvement, intriguing paths to extra details from the author’s life, and an invitation for the reader to take part. It’s all beautifully done, simple to follow and understand, and delightfully enticing. And less tech-savvy grandparents can always read the (thoroughly enjoyable) story in the usual way, leaving their kids to discover the extra treats.
Little boy Bear does all the things a child might be expected to do, from examining maggoty apples to teaching kittens to scratch. But are these tales the records of true events? Readers find out by clicking the true-false stamp in the corner of a page. Sometimes the answers are simple facts; sometimes they’re whole new stories of their own. As an added attraction, young readers are offered links so they can (with permission) email their own experiences to the author. It all makes this feel like a perfect example of what a computer-generation, early-reading book is meant to be.
But it's also a great picture book! Bear with Bear is a cool family tale of a brother and sister, their parents, their interactions, and an odd assortment of potential pets. It’s also as a great way to e-enhance the picture-book reading experience. And the author offers a final bonus in a music video, showcasing the scenery, plants and insects of the grown-up Saar’s forest (while parents enjoy the song, and everyone waits for the dog!)
Disclosure: I was given a copy and I LOVE IT!
Little boy Bear does all the things a child might be expected to do, from examining maggoty apples to teaching kittens to scratch. But are these tales the records of true events? Readers find out by clicking the true-false stamp in the corner of a page. Sometimes the answers are simple facts; sometimes they’re whole new stories of their own. As an added attraction, young readers are offered links so they can (with permission) email their own experiences to the author. It all makes this feel like a perfect example of what a computer-generation, early-reading book is meant to be.
But it's also a great picture book! Bear with Bear is a cool family tale of a brother and sister, their parents, their interactions, and an odd assortment of potential pets. It’s also as a great way to e-enhance the picture-book reading experience. And the author offers a final bonus in a music video, showcasing the scenery, plants and insects of the grown-up Saar’s forest (while parents enjoy the song, and everyone waits for the dog!)
Disclosure: I was given a copy and I LOVE IT!
December 6, 2016
★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Hagit Oron has branched off from her adventures with Elphie to come up with something for slightly older readers. This is the story of Bear, a young man in search of a pet. He has a few hurdles -- his parents (his mother in particular), his sister's qualms about several representatives of the animal kingdom, and reality (he doesn't ask for a Hippopotamus for Christmas or anything that outlandish, but it wouldn't have surprised me). I really liked the siblings relationship as depicted here -- it felt real, it felt relatable.
I'm not sure that I buy the 6-9 age range for this story -- but I'm not an expert, 5-7 would be my guess. But whatever, target ages like that are best used (and/or ignored) by those who know the kid best.
The thing that will appeal most to older readers is that if you click an icon in the lower corner of the page, it'll take you to another page that gives you some insight into the factual basis behind the part of the story you just read -- or showing just how fictional it was. Oron drew from her own family's pet hunt for inspiration and she details how she went about taking that inspiration and turning it into the story. It's an added touch that I think could really help a lot of younger readers. Now, my review copy didn't have that function, so I can't tell you how well it worked -- I assume it's pretty straightforward in operation -- but I did get to read those pages, and appreciated what Oron was trying to accomplish with them.
Armeland's art pops off the page. It's simple and attractive, but it feels like there's something wrong with calling it "simple" -- I don't mean it as an insult, it's the first word that comes to mind. But there's a lot of subtle things going on with the illustrations, too -- so it's not simplistic. Ugh, I clearly shouldn't talk about art -- I liked it, I thought it fit the story, and it didn't feel like the art in kids' books that I've seen a million times before.
It was a nice story, told in a good way that should appeal to younger readers -- with a nice twist that'll capture the imagination of many. Maybe even inspire some young writers out there, now that they've seen how their lives can be the basis of fiction. I continue to be a Oron fan, probably more of one now than before.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest take, and I thank her for it.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
Hagit Oron has branched off from her adventures with Elphie to come up with something for slightly older readers. This is the story of Bear, a young man in search of a pet. He has a few hurdles -- his parents (his mother in particular), his sister's qualms about several representatives of the animal kingdom, and reality (he doesn't ask for a Hippopotamus for Christmas or anything that outlandish, but it wouldn't have surprised me). I really liked the siblings relationship as depicted here -- it felt real, it felt relatable.
I'm not sure that I buy the 6-9 age range for this story -- but I'm not an expert, 5-7 would be my guess. But whatever, target ages like that are best used (and/or ignored) by those who know the kid best.
The thing that will appeal most to older readers is that if you click an icon in the lower corner of the page, it'll take you to another page that gives you some insight into the factual basis behind the part of the story you just read -- or showing just how fictional it was. Oron drew from her own family's pet hunt for inspiration and she details how she went about taking that inspiration and turning it into the story. It's an added touch that I think could really help a lot of younger readers. Now, my review copy didn't have that function, so I can't tell you how well it worked -- I assume it's pretty straightforward in operation -- but I did get to read those pages, and appreciated what Oron was trying to accomplish with them.
Armeland's art pops off the page. It's simple and attractive, but it feels like there's something wrong with calling it "simple" -- I don't mean it as an insult, it's the first word that comes to mind. But there's a lot of subtle things going on with the illustrations, too -- so it's not simplistic. Ugh, I clearly shouldn't talk about art -- I liked it, I thought it fit the story, and it didn't feel like the art in kids' books that I've seen a million times before.
It was a nice story, told in a good way that should appeal to younger readers -- with a nice twist that'll capture the imagination of many. Maybe even inspire some young writers out there, now that they've seen how their lives can be the basis of fiction. I continue to be a Oron fan, probably more of one now than before.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest take, and I thank her for it.
January 3, 2017
I received this book from the author in exchange of an honest review.
When the author mailed me about this book I was quite curious, it was a fiction and non-fiction book in one. One part was about a boy who wants a critter for a pet, while the other part was about the author's childhood with stories about pets and more. It is not often that you see fiction and non-fiction getting combined like this.
However, I have to say that I didn't quite like the fiction part. Sorry! The boy was quite fun at the beginning, but I quickly got annoyed with his attitude, and what he did and said to his little sister. He kept whining and whining about stuff. What he did to his sister's cat was just meh. Why would you train a cat to do all that?
The parents weren't all that good too. Oh, our kid comes into our room because her brother is doing x and y, let's get a cat. Oh that doesn't work out, dump the poor thing back to someone and get a dog. They even wanted to dump the dog when he got ticks...............
But I did love the non-fiction parts. It was quite fun to see where the author got her inspiration for the story from. Plus it was also fun because you got to know the author and her family more. It was quite fun that quite a few things actually did happen, just a bit different from what the fiction story tells.
She also added pictures and it was fun to see her pets.
I also loved how the whole fiction was connected to the non-fiction by way of a little stamp in the fiction parts. Not that it really worked that well in the PDF, but I guess it might work better with an ereader.
I wonder how many kids will email her about their experiences (she asks them (of course with permission from parents) to mail her). I am quite curious to the replies.
So yeah, since I did love the non-fiction parts plus I liked how it all connected, I will give it a 3 stars. 2.5 for the non-fiction, 0.5 for the connection.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com
When the author mailed me about this book I was quite curious, it was a fiction and non-fiction book in one. One part was about a boy who wants a critter for a pet, while the other part was about the author's childhood with stories about pets and more. It is not often that you see fiction and non-fiction getting combined like this.
However, I have to say that I didn't quite like the fiction part. Sorry! The boy was quite fun at the beginning, but I quickly got annoyed with his attitude, and what he did and said to his little sister. He kept whining and whining about stuff. What he did to his sister's cat was just meh. Why would you train a cat to do all that?
The parents weren't all that good too. Oh, our kid comes into our room because her brother is doing x and y, let's get a cat. Oh that doesn't work out, dump the poor thing back to someone and get a dog. They even wanted to dump the dog when he got ticks...............
But I did love the non-fiction parts. It was quite fun to see where the author got her inspiration for the story from. Plus it was also fun because you got to know the author and her family more. It was quite fun that quite a few things actually did happen, just a bit different from what the fiction story tells.
She also added pictures and it was fun to see her pets.
I also loved how the whole fiction was connected to the non-fiction by way of a little stamp in the fiction parts. Not that it really worked that well in the PDF, but I guess it might work better with an ereader.
I wonder how many kids will email her about their experiences (she asks them (of course with permission from parents) to mail her). I am quite curious to the replies.
So yeah, since I did love the non-fiction parts plus I liked how it all connected, I will give it a 3 stars. 2.5 for the non-fiction, 0.5 for the connection.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com
November 28, 2016
The book blurb describes this as an unconventional children’s book. In the author’s words, “if you are looking for a conventional book you should continue your search, but if you’re on a lookout for an original, non-traditional work then take a look inside.” Well, I’m glad I took a look inside, because Bear with Bear is certainly unlike any other children’s book I’ve ever read before.
Bear with Bear begins with a note from the author to the reader, explaining that this is an unusual story about a child who wishes to have an unusual pet. The telling of the story is also unusual – the interactive format allows children to click on images to read the “story behind the story”. The little flags in the lower right hand corners of the pages allow readers to see if certain elements of the story are based on truth. The backstories are also located at the end of the book. What a fun way to present a children’s tale! Readers can also read the book in the conventional way – it’s totally up to the child.
Bear is a curious youngster who enjoys playing with “creepy” things. Bear tries to befriend any number of would-be pets, but his sister Penelope is easily scared and his mother tends to discourage Bear’s pet choices. Bear gets into all sorts of predicaments in his search for the perfect creepy pet.
I loved this book. I found it to be a unique and clever way to present a story to children. The vocabulary is age-appropriate. The illustrations are sweet and colorful. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the author’s personal stories as well. This is like getting two books for the price of one. Highly recommended!
Bear with Bear begins with a note from the author to the reader, explaining that this is an unusual story about a child who wishes to have an unusual pet. The telling of the story is also unusual – the interactive format allows children to click on images to read the “story behind the story”. The little flags in the lower right hand corners of the pages allow readers to see if certain elements of the story are based on truth. The backstories are also located at the end of the book. What a fun way to present a children’s tale! Readers can also read the book in the conventional way – it’s totally up to the child.
Bear is a curious youngster who enjoys playing with “creepy” things. Bear tries to befriend any number of would-be pets, but his sister Penelope is easily scared and his mother tends to discourage Bear’s pet choices. Bear gets into all sorts of predicaments in his search for the perfect creepy pet.
I loved this book. I found it to be a unique and clever way to present a story to children. The vocabulary is age-appropriate. The illustrations are sweet and colorful. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the author’s personal stories as well. This is like getting two books for the price of one. Highly recommended!
November 15, 2016
All children want a pet sometime in their life. But what pet is the perfect pet for you? As children read this book they will be learning about interesting unusual creatures. But that is not all this book is really 2 book in one. There is the non fiction story about the author and her real live experiences and then there is the funny story about a young boy who really wants a snake for a pet.
You will love this book and the illustrations. It is certainly one for children who are interested in learning more about unusual creatures.
You will love this book and the illustrations. It is certainly one for children who are interested in learning more about unusual creatures.
November 29, 2016
What a clever book! That is a brilliant way to utilize an e-book. It is definitely set apart from a traditional print book. I love it. The protagonist, Bear, wants to have some very unusual pets, which includes perfectly described creepy-crawly pets. My 5-year old loved them, and I loved the real-life inspiration behind each story. The illustrations are adorable. We just fell in love with Bear and Penelope.
November 25, 2016
It's kind of a quirky/different little book for children...lots to learn about 'odd' pets....like beetles, ticks, & even maggots! Yikes! But, it was an okay read....kids might find it kind of a weird, fun read?! I gave it an extra star to award the 'learning opportunity!'
March 2, 2019
The author has put together an unusual book that combines a fictional story with a nonfiction narrative which includes lots of information about animals. Nine-year-old Bear desperately wants a pet. The problem is he is uninterested in a conventional choice like a cat or a dog. Bear enjoys collecting creatures like maggots, beetles, ticks, and snails. He torments his sister, Penelope, with his finds. His teacher and parents are not keen on Bear’s hobbies. After the family tries adopting a cat and a dog, Bear is adamant about his preference for a snake. Their patience is wearing thin. Who will win the battle of wills?
The author uses a unique approach to make the book interactive and informative. Readers may click on a picture to access more information. This is the part that gives them lots of facts on all the creatures mentioned in the story. There are illustrations for each section of text. The book is targeted for ages five through fifteen. As a picture book or read aloud, young children could follow the fictional narrative, while the interactive feature and text are more appropriate for ages six through ten.
I would rate the book three and a half stars because the small print was difficult to read on my color Kindle, even when the book was enlarged to full page. This could easily be changed to make the book more appealing to beginning and reluctant readers.
The author uses a unique approach to make the book interactive and informative. Readers may click on a picture to access more information. This is the part that gives them lots of facts on all the creatures mentioned in the story. There are illustrations for each section of text. The book is targeted for ages five through fifteen. As a picture book or read aloud, young children could follow the fictional narrative, while the interactive feature and text are more appropriate for ages six through ten.
I would rate the book three and a half stars because the small print was difficult to read on my color Kindle, even when the book was enlarged to full page. This could easily be changed to make the book more appealing to beginning and reluctant readers.
December 7, 2016
I chose to read this e-book after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
What a cute story! A boy named Bear is fascinated with insects and wants a pet snake. He tries to keep a maggot (yuck!), beetles, and other creepy crawlies but his parents explain that these creatures aren't meant to be pets.
Bear's parents decide to try a kitten as a pet for his sister Penelope. They bring the kitten back after it doesn't work out. I understand that keeping a kitten that the children won't care for is responsible. On the other hand, giving up on the kitten so quickly doesn't send the best message. They then got a dog and the kids decided to keep the dog, especially since it had ticks which Bear found great. In fact, he wanted to keep the ticks more than the dog!
This book was cute and the illustrations are bright and colorful. At the end, the author explains where different parts of the story came from: some are pure imagination and others are actually based on things the author experienced. Both parents and children will enjoy the end which is both interesting and informative.
I definitely recommend this book for children. It would be a good book for parents to read to children, also.
What a cute story! A boy named Bear is fascinated with insects and wants a pet snake. He tries to keep a maggot (yuck!), beetles, and other creepy crawlies but his parents explain that these creatures aren't meant to be pets.
Bear's parents decide to try a kitten as a pet for his sister Penelope. They bring the kitten back after it doesn't work out. I understand that keeping a kitten that the children won't care for is responsible. On the other hand, giving up on the kitten so quickly doesn't send the best message. They then got a dog and the kids decided to keep the dog, especially since it had ticks which Bear found great. In fact, he wanted to keep the ticks more than the dog!
This book was cute and the illustrations are bright and colorful. At the end, the author explains where different parts of the story came from: some are pure imagination and others are actually based on things the author experienced. Both parents and children will enjoy the end which is both interesting and informative.
I definitely recommend this book for children. It would be a good book for parents to read to children, also.
January 9, 2017
What a great story ! All about two siblings going from one pet to snotherlll
I liked this story as I mentioned above of a brief review of this short story and wish to recommend this for four stars and for those kids ages 8-12 who are into studying and picking up beetles, snsile,etc. and wanting to keep them as pets. I received this ebook for free by using KU and in return, here is my honest review. Great job Hagit! By Angela
I liked this story as I mentioned above of a brief review of this short story and wish to recommend this for four stars and for those kids ages 8-12 who are into studying and picking up beetles, snsile,etc. and wanting to keep them as pets. I received this ebook for free by using KU and in return, here is my honest review. Great job Hagit! By Angela
December 31, 2017
Bear loves insects. He would love to have a snake. His parents tell him know. He terrorizes his sister who is afraid of insects. The parents finally get a cat, then a dog. But do ticks make good pets? The fun part was that this story was followed by stories behind the story. Lots of great info and fun to read.
March 22, 2019
My children love to read and I am so happy that there are books like this one out there that I can read to them.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews