The Night Bear

by Ana De Moraes, Thiago de Moraes (Illustrator)

After dark, the Night Bear goes on the hunt for his favorite delicious nightmares. But one night, he almost munches on a dream of unicorns and rainbows by mistake―yuck! It might not be his cup of tea, but surely there's someone who might like it?

Prize-winning husband and wife team Thiago and Ana de Moraes present The Night Bear ―the perfect bedtime story.

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Childrens, Storytime, Animals, Emotion, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

Published March 5, 2019

Reviews

[Perrilyn Pringle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo cute! Another great helper for nightmares.

[Children's Literature Centre at FSU · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sweet story for child learning to cope with nightmares and bad dreams. This creative tale will capture the imagination of any young child lucky to read the book. The illustrations add further to the magic.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely way of showing how our nightmares can disappear.
*Bears waiting for the bus after work
*The favourite snacks in the back
*How to make your own takeaway box

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

At night, the Night Bear takes the night bus and heads out searching for his favorite nighttime meal, nightmares. Each type of nightmare tastes different from the others, but equally delicious. “Monsters with hideous eyes taste like burgers and fries.” “Scary pirates being mean taste like strawberries and cream.” On and on the Night Bear munches until he comes to one package of dreams he thinks is completely disgusting! It’s rainbows and unicorns, ick! So the Night Bear heads out to see if he can give it to a dreamer. He discovers a child who is awake in the middle of the night because of a bad dream and exchanges his awful unicorns for the child’s spiders and snakes (that taste like chocolate cake!)

The rhyming here is what makes the book a great success. It has a wonderful galloping pace as well as being filled with delicious surprises as each nightmare has a distinct and fully-described flavor. That pace nicely slows as the bear looks for a child to share the unicorns with and then picks up again at the end. The illustrations are filled with deep colors of night and vivid depictions of the various nightmares combined with the flavors they have.

Whether you find nightmares or rainbows delicious, this book is just the right flavor. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in Great Britain, this picture book imagines what happens to bad dreams or nightmares. According to the text, those things that leave youngsters frightened at night can be left outside their doors by children for the Night Bear. He's very hungry and eagerly gobbles up the nightmares. But when he finds one that is sweet and not scary, it is not to his taste at all. He searches until he finds one boy who is still awake, and he gives the sweet nightmare to Tom. I liked the creative approach to the scary things, all of which are translated into some sort of food to be gobbled by the Night Bear. The final end papers even feature his favorite snacks. Readers might find reassurance by following the directions on the first end papers so that they can fashion their own take-out boxes in which to place nightmares for that Night Bear. I've read plenty of stories about bad dreams and that sort of thing but nothing quite like this one. It just might soothe the anxious nerves of youngsters who find it hard to sleep due to the nightmares that plague them.

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Familiar Experience: Nightmares

Nightmares are a tricky, scary sort. But not for the hungry Night Bear who feasts on our nightmares after we've gone to bed. "Scary pirates being mean taste like strawberries and cream...Beasts with many eyes taste like crusty pies." When the Night Bear opens a box full of disgusting unicorns and rainbows, he can't just throw them out. What if a dreamer would like them?

Although we may want to avoid discussions of nightmares, this book provides a crafty solution for encouraging a restful night's sleep. There are even step-by-step instructions to create your own Night Bear take-out box.

Reviewed by: Miss Kelsey, Youth and School Services, Vernon Area Public Library

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age: Older preschool-1st grade
Animal: Bear
Familiar Experience: Nightmares
Fantasy: Unicorns

Nightmares are a tricky, scary sort. But not for the hungry Night Bear who feasts on our nightmares after we've gone to bed. "Scary pirates being mean taste like strawberries and cream...Beasts with many eyes taste like crusty pies." When the Night Bear opens a box full of disgusting unicorns and rainbows, he can't just throw them out. What if a dreamer would like them?

Although we may want to avoid discussions of nightmares, this book provides a crafty solution for encouraging a restful night's sleep. There are even step-by-step instructions to create your own Night Bear take-out box.

[Jeri Goins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Night Bear eats the nightmares of children who leave their bad dreams on their doorsteps. He finds them delicious and the children are glad to be rid of them. Tonight, he finds a yucky good dream! Can he find a child to trade this good dream with for a nightmare?

This book features an origami lesson inside the front cover to make a box in which to leave your nightmare for your Night Bear. Inside the back cover are examples of nightmares and how they taste to the Bears. "A howling ghost tastes like cheese on toast" etc.

A book to start a wonderful tradition to rid a child of bad dreams!

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the perfect bedtime story, especially for a child who is transitioning to his or her own room. This book is about a bear who goes looking for nightmares to eat at nighttime, the bear eats all the children's bad dreams so that they will only dream of good dreams. I think all children can connect or relate to this story and would love the 'idea' that if they have a bad dream that the nigh bear will come eat it up.

[CR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
My Review: This was the most adorable story about how to deal with nightmares. I could see this book going to children who are having them. I love the idea of creating a take out box to put all your bad dreams and fears in to leave outside your home for the Night Bear to eat. The imagery was beautiful. And the story was heartfelt.

Go Into This One Knowing: Nightmares

[Juliana Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Night Bears take the Night Bus into town looking for delicious snacks. They especially like scary monsters and other creepy things. But they do NOT like rainbows and unicorns. When one night bear finds rainbows and unicorns left outside a door he packs it up and exchanges it for spiders and snakes.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightfully wonderful book! I enjoyed the rhymes and the art. Plus, there are many more monster combinations on the insides of the covers. I read it to my four-year-old son with a bit of a filter. He's doesn't quite understand about nightmares yet, so I changed up some of the words to soften the concept.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unbeknownst to most of us, night bears come by our front doors each night to eat our scary dreams! To night bears scary dreams taste like yummy things. Some taste like ice cream, some taste like chocolate cake and others taste of sweeter things still. But the poor night bear in our story comes across a dream that tastes horrible! It's full of unicorns and rainbows--not at all what he was hoping for. He searches the town until he finds a boy who is awake. The night bear has never met a dreamer before, but he has a wonderful idea. They exchange dreams and the night bear gets the boy's nightmare and the boy gets a wonderful dream about magical things.

In the opening fly leaf shows how to make a paper box for children to tuck their nightmares into and recommends that they leave these dreams on the porch for the night bears to find. The back fly leaf shows what different kinds of nightmares taste like. This is a brand new fairytale, similar to tales of the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. It may provide parents who are struggling with a child who regularly has bad dreams find a way to put them aside and return to sleep. The story feels a little awkward because children who meet a bear in the night should definately NOT approach it. It is a cute idea, but just a little off somehow. Recommended for children and parents who live safely far away from actual bears.

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[MaryLibrarianOH · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book that deals with nightmares and the bears that eat them up so they won't bother kids. The end papers show you how to fold a takeout box and what all those bad dreams taste like to night bears.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a funny, but sweet little book. And I love the slight nod to gender non-conformity by having a little boy LOVE dreams about rainbows and unicorns. Great for bedtime, sharing/friendship storytimes.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story of a bear who eats the bad dreams that kids toss away is adorable. I like that he finds a dream of unicorns and rainbows and seeks out a child to share that dream as it is not to his liking.

[Lilian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Library find. Very cute book and extremely creative. I only wish the whole thing had a rhyme pattern rather than just a few pages. But my 9yo son loved the rhymes and it helped him remember them as well.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun endpapers. Could be super useful for a parent with a child having a lot of nightmares.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could be an interesting writing prompt or discussion topic.

[Alyx Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. For me, there has to be a really solid reason why the text rhymes purposefully to be a success. I didn't identify with the storyline, and I found the rhyming distracting.

[KarenB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rainbows and unicorns! Yay

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bear devours nightmares.

[Nicole Darrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute story about what happens to nightmares.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Nice illustrations.

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, save for story time

[Elizabeth]

Clever.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bear hunts in the night for food and has very differnt taste than the friend he makes along the way. preschool and up

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you have scary nightmares? Leave them out for the Night Bear! The Night Bear is a happy creature that eats bad dreams. The scarier the dream, the tastier to eat! In this Night Bear’s search for food, he stumbles upon what looks like a very good dream. Icky! He has to search to find someone who likes such a thing.

The Night Bear is an adorable story. The book describes how each of the nightmares taste to the Night Bear in a whimsical way that makes them a lot less scary. This book could be used to put nightmares in to perspective for little children by diminishing them as something made up without discrediting the children’s fear. It is beautifully illustrated. The Night Bear glows in the dark, symbolizing the happiness and warmth he can bring to an initial scary night. The book even includes instructions in the beginning on how to leave a nightmare out for the Night Bear.

++Review originally published on Children's Book and Media Review++
http://byucbmr.com/reviews/the-night-...