Bear Child

by Geoff Mead, Sanne Dufft (Illustrator)

Brother Bear and Brave meet Where the Wild Things Are in this heartwarming tale of parent-child love. 'Now that people live in towns and bears live in the woods, have you ever wondered what happened to the bear folk?' At bedtime Ursula asks Daddy to tell her the tale of the bear special beings who can choose to be either a bear or a person, depending if they want to catch a fish or read a book. Bear folk live extraordinary lives, he tells her. They are strong and clever, kind and loving, adventurous and creative -- just like her. Will I ever meet one?, Ursula asks. Perhaps she already has... Bear Child is an inspirational story of parental love, belief and embracing individuality. This beautiful picture book weaves together Geoff Mead's charming words with Sanne Dufft's ethereal illustrations to create a truly timeless folktale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

Published September 18, 2018

About the author

Born into the post-war baby-boomer generation, Geoff was the first member of his family to go to university (and the first to drop out). He quickly returned to complete his studies in mediaeval history after a salutary period washing cars for a living. With not much idea of what he really wanted to do, he cut off his shoulder-length hair and joined the police service which he left three decades later as a chief superintendent.

During those years he did pretty much everything from walking the beat to directing national police leadership programmes and from commanding a police district to training with the F.B.I. in Virginia, U.S.A. En route he also found time to train as an organisational consultant, complete an MBA,a postgraduate diploma in Gestalt psychology, and a PhD in action research.

He has worked as an educator, executive coach and organisational consultant for nearly two decades in the boardrooms of blue chip companies, universities, public sector organisations and government departments. In recent years he has specialised in board development, group facilitation and the use of story and narrative in organisations. Geoff is Director of Narrative Leadership associates - a consultancy using storytellng to help develop sustainable leadership.

He was on the faculty of the Prime Minister's Top Management Programme and has co-designed and led national leadership programmes for the Cabinet Office. He has published a wide range of book chapters and articles on aspects of organisational and leadership development, action research (and latterly on storytelling) in professional and academic journals.

Geoff has four grown up children, five grandchildren and an entirely unreasonable love of Morgan sports cars. He divides his time between his partner's house in the Cotswolds and Lyme Regis where he writes and lives in sight of the sea.

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Edelweiss and Floris Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The story starts off with a young girl named Ursula who asks her father to tell her a bedtime story about magical beings called the bear folk. The bear folk were beings who were half human and half bear due to their parents being bears and humans who fell in love and married each other. The bear folk also had the abilities to change shape from bears to humans whenever they feel like it. One day however, the bears decided to stay in the woods while the humans decided to stay in towns; but despite this, some of the bear folk still went into the towns that were occupied by humans and managed to mingled in with some of the humans. It was at this point that Ursula asks her father if the bear folk still exists and will she ever meet one of the bear folks?

Will Ursula meet one of the bear folks?

Read this book to find out!

Yay! I have always loved reading folktales that dealt with magical beings and “Bear Child” is definitely one of those folktale books that I was interested in reading! Geoff Mead has done a great job at writing this book as this book is extremely heartwarming and magical to read through as I enjoyed seeing the loving relationship between Ursula and her father as Ursula’s father tells Ursula a bedtime story that deals with the importance of family. I also liked the way that Geoff Mead wrote the story about the bear folk as I love magical beings that are able to change into different forms and I like the fact that the basis of their characters is that they try to create a loving family with human beings. Sanne Dufft’s artwork is probably the best part of this book as they are gorgeous to look at, especially of the artwork of seeing white cloud versions of the bears up in the blue and starry skies!



The reason why I gave this book a four-star rating was because I felt that the pacing of this book was a bit too slow in some places. I actually wished that there was a bit more action in this book, although I really enjoyed the heartwarming aspect of this story.

Overall, “Bear Child” is a truly adorable story about the importance of family that children will enjoy! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is the case for so many youngsters, Ursula loves hearing the stories her father tells, especially those about the bear folk, who could take on either a human or a bear form. As he weaves his tale and shares his knowledge, Ursula becomes increasingly interested in being one of those bear folk. What seems like a folk tale turns out to have some truth to it when readers consider the last line in the book and think about how where bear folk that die end up. The gentle story is supported with softly-colored illustrations that show the love between a parent and a child and encourage a sense of wonder in life's possibilities. After all, although it's unlikely that these bear folk still exist, one never knows. I really like how the book handles the topic of death, something that makes most of us uncomfortable, especially when we need to explain it to youngsters.

[Neeli · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books for this year. What an unusual and sensitive way to approach the topic of death. I loved this magical folktale. Wonderful illustrations are spread throughout this book. A must have on every parent's shelf.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sweet bedtime story is a conversation between a father and his daughter, about their fantasy of bear-children. Nicely paced with charming illustrations by Sanne Dufft.

Recommended for grades PreS-K.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
This is a cute little book that allows kiddos to imagine that they might be more beyond themselves. Also lightly discusses what happens after we die in a comforting sort of way. A good book to use to gently broach the topic of death.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At bedtime Ursula asks Daddy to tell her the tale of the bear folk. A gentle stroy that nicely handles the subject of death.

[Anne Lutomia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geoff weaves a story about bears, bear folks, becoming-life cycles, and deaths creatively into a not so scary bedtime story.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.