The Curious Cares of Bears

by Douglas Florian, Sonia Sanchez (Illustrator)

The cares of bears are curious indeed, as you will discover, if you care to read.

 
Join a family of bears as they have all kinds of fun throughout the seasons! From climbing up trees and stealing honey to giving bear hugs and lazing in lakes, these bears have many curious cares.

But when winter comes, it’s time to hibernate. Can the cares of these bears wait until spring?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Poetry, Fiction, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun trip through the seasons with some bears as they go about their beary business.
Beautifully illustrated by Sonia Sanchez.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence;

The cares of bears
are curious indeed,
as you will discover,
if you care to read.

Premise/plot: The Curious Cares of Bears is a whimsical poem of a book. These curious bears are not your average bears. For example, in summer these bears play jump rope and hide-and-seek, go mountain biking, etc. In autumn, they build campfires and sing songs.

My thoughts: This one is written in rhyme. Some spreads worked better for me--as far as rhythm goes--than others. But overall, I liked the book. It begins and ends in spring. The book 'chronicles' what bears do in all four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

[Michele Knott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adding to bear unit books.
Would be good to use to discuss with young readers the real facts vs the fictional information.

[Laura Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to tell from this pic how warm and delightful the cover art is. The entire book is like having a great old bear hug. I loved it!

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable!!!

[Alex Baugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travel through the seasons with this energetic sleuth of bears as the play their way to their winter’s nap. In spring, there’s honey to find and enjoy, games to play with siblings. When summer comes, there’s swimming in the creek, feasting on berries with the relatives, and time to party. Fall brings its own fun, and then, winter rolls round again. Young readers will discover that the curious cares of bears are sometimes not so very different than their own, at least in terms of fun, friends, and family. The simple rhyming text moves the story along season by season enhanced the lively whimsical illustrations. This book is a great read aloud, and my young readers certainly loved reading it - over and over and over (I loved the expressions on the faces of the bears, but then again, I love a good bear book).

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Florian’s lively story in rhyme follows a bear family’s capers through the seasons of the year. For example, “In springtime there’s carefully climbing up trees, / and stealing the honey from beehives of bees.” Sánchez’s colorful, action-filled digital and mixed-media artwork draws the reader into the bears’ playful activities. “According to legend / bears care to go hiking / fifty-five miles or more, / then mountain biking.” After they have slept their way through the frozen winter, the bears awaken, ready to follow their “curious cares” throughout a new year. Pair this book with Florian and Sánchez’s The Wonderful Habits of Rabbits (2016) for a rhythmic read-aloud session.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was enticed by the title of this book! In this book, the reader follows the activities of a bear family. What they get up to is a combination of real things that bears do with the kinds of activities that children do. The bears are busy in each season except winter, of course. The book is clinched with the perfect ending sentence! (The rhyme embraces “thaw” and “awe”.)

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations and a promising opening from this fanciful tale of bear behaviors. I wish the text would have stuck to only the real mannerisms of the mammals and left out personified ones. The rhyming narration is flawed in a few places (ex. "swimming 'inside' of a creek" or "when winter winds blow 'then' they 'go in' a den") with the result that any read-aloud potential is dubious.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read-aloud for 3-5 y/o. Beautiful illustrations and great rhyming text make for a fun read.

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel a bear storytime coming on!

[Ms.Gaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun rhyming text about bears. Ages 3-5

[Rebecca Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's actually really cute, and I would have given it four stars if the meter was smoother. Fun book to share with the kids, though, despite its flaws.

[Casandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute rhyming book about bears. Lovely illustrations

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice short rhyming book about bears, and what they do.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are cute. The book has a nice flow to it. If your kid likes bears then it's a nice book to read.

[Riley Dukish · Rating 5 out of 5]

it a 10 star

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love love love! Ages 3-7

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many picture books employ animals as stand-ins for humans. But how far will authors go, making it seems as though bears or other animals are inwardly just like humans? Like you or me, only wearing a fur suit!

The bears playfully depicted here are EXACTLY like humans inwardly. No wonder why, unlike real animals, all they do is play and enjoy life. Some cares!

In autumn there's playing in leaves all day long,
then building a campfire and sharing a song.

FIVE STARS for very engaging, very fictioney-fiction.

[Kelly Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't a high-quality children's book. The most frustrating thing about this book was the rhyming scheme. The author pays no attention to the rhythm, only the rhyme, and the result is jerky and disjointed prose. It's also annoying that it wants to be educational, but then turns fantastic when the bears go mountain biking. The illustrations have nice color schemes, but look hastily done and terribly busy.

[Tina Hoggatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I am all about bears I felt the depiction was neither bears-as-stand-ins-for-people or bears as bears. So there was a narrative awkwardness for me. In addition some of the rhyme did not scan. Still, there are lots of readers who will eat this year in a bear's life up.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming illustrations.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used in a "Bears!" storytime on 4/23/24

[Elizabeth Capps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would make a good storytime book.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first spread of this book ("The cares of bears are curious indeed,/as you will discover, if you care to read.") in storytime today and asked the group if they wanted to continue to read, but they agreed they wanted to try a different book. I don't think this is really a fault of this book (more a case of not asking questions you don't want answers to), but it still felt worth noting.