The Boy and the Bear

by Peter Stein

Where is Bear? Not here. Or there. Or anywhere! With wacky Seuss-ian art and rhyming text, a boy runs the gamut of emotion--love, sadness, fear, anger, resolve, and joy--when he loses his beloved Teddy bear, then finds it again.

The boy and the bear were always a pair . . . . until the boy found a goat in a coat, a huggable slug, a funky old monkey, a rodeo rat, a sing-along thing, and a tottering otter. The boy loses his bear and panics. "I WANT MY BROWN BEAR!" he cries. When the boy finally finds his bear, he returns the other toys, and the boy and the bear are a pair again.

This humorous, kid-pleasing story in verse touches on a wide range of subjects, including emotions, fear, love, loss, sadness, joy, resolve, facial emotion recognition (reading facial expressions), anti-materialism, and toys.

With a bonus Find-the-Feelings game!

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime

40 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2019

About the author

Peter Stein has been a highly successful writer, editor, designer, and art director for more than twenty years. He is the author of seven gift books, including Age Is Nothing, Attitude Is Everything and Fine Friends: A Little Book About You and Me. He lives in Petaluma, California.

Reviews

[Shaye Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

In rhyming text, we watch while a boy and his bear are bombarded by many new and exciting things to take with them. When it becomes too much to handle, the boy realized the bear is all he really wanted all along. The boys facial expressions showcase a wide variety of feelings, so in the back pages they offer a two pages where children can match the feelings with the face while discussing emotions. The story could also be used to introduce the topic of consumerism (or what to do if you discover a random blimp losing stuffed animals – lol). The artwork for this book was created with graphite and digital color.

For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet story reminiscent of Dr. Seuss's rhyming texts, and the folktale, The Mitten.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy and the Bear by Peter Stein. PICTURE BOOK. Holiday House, 2019. $18. 9780823440955

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

A boy and his bear are inseparable as they wander here and there. Then the boy starts seeing more animals and brings them along until he can’t hold them all.

There is a fun twist to the near end of this story that heightens the adorableness factor.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bringing to mind some of Dr. Seuss's books with its rhymes, repetition, and absurdity, this picture book features a boy with a very best friend. He and his stuffed animal friend have many adventures and do everything together, and life is good. But when he happens upon various other animals, including a goat, a slug, and a rat, he gathers them up in an unwieldy load and makes his precarious way across the landscape. Finding an otter is the last straw, and they all tumble to the ground. In the ensuing mayhem, the boy has trouble finding his stuffed friend. Of course, the illustrations make it clear where the bear is. Once they are reunited, he spots an aircraft that is dispensing various creature nearby and takes the necessary steps to get rid of them. The illustrations, created with graphite and digital color, are eye-catching, and the boy's face shows how he feels at various points in the story. I wasn't particularly enamored with the story's conclusion since I wondered why he picked up all those animals in the first place. But youngsters might find all this charming, and caregivers can use the back matter with two pages of feelings listed to help youngsters identify the feelings the protagonist experienced as well as some of their own feelings.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

The boy had a stuffed bear... and then he found a goat. He proceeded to find a slug, a monkey, a rat, a sing-along thing, and finally an otter. They all flew through the air and he couldn't find bear anywhere (even though the reader can see him on his head all along). Then the boy discovered that the "Cuddly Critters Delivery Service" blimp had a slippery latch that had opened the hatch which dropped all the stuffed animals on the ground. He threw all the animals up to the man in the plane and was happy being just a pair with his bear. This whimsical picture book has colorful, fanciful stuffed animals that complement the frequently rhyming text- the rat in his ten gallon hat, the goat in a polka-dot coat and the otter which led to the totter. Two final pages have the boy expressing feelings that the reader is to match with words- sad, happy, angry, loving, worried, and calm. A fun, engaging book for preschool children through kindergarten.

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy loves his stuffed bear. They go everywhere together. then the boy finds a potbellied goat in a polka-dot coat followed by a squishable, huggable, lovable slug, then a funky old monkey and then a menagerie of other weird and wonderful stuffed toys. Still, as the cumulative story advances, it is soon too much and the boy manages to return the toys to where they belong. This leaves him back with his fuzzy brown bear, and that's more than enough. Fun, bouncy language makes up the rhyming text, and the bright cartoonish illustrations are sure to please young readers. The final two pages talk about the feelings the boy had during the story and have readers match the feelings with the faces. This is a fun and silly book.

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

An emotional journey of a boy with his stuffed bear. And all the animals he brings along as he plays until he has too many and must leave them all as he looks for his bear for comfort. Goes through emotional response to each event and has back matter showing his feelings in each picture for reader to identify.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Such a cute story. I LOVED it. So did Joe. A boy and his beloved stuffed bear go for a walk... and find many more "friends" along the way. Will he be able to carry them all? Where did they come from? Where should they go? Absolutely delightful.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, entertaining story quite Seussian in its repetitive rhyming text and illustrations.

[Angela Isaacs]

Lo

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be so fun as a read aloud

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A boy and his stuffed bear do everything together but what happens when the bear gets lost? Preschool and up

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sobering statement in both the evils of consumerism and why you should be an only child.

[Aj Fried · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book particularly since we have a boy and a bear (named Emily)

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, silly read aloud.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute!

[D Fichera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, cute story about your first friend and that there may be other friends but you always have your first.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Storytime Themes: Friendship, Rhyming

(Another one to remember for 2023's Summer Reading theme)

[Ksenia]

Adorable, especially all those silly stuffed animals!

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a touch of Dr. Seuss and a smidgen of There Was an Old Lady, this picture book is a versatile title to add to the bookcase. It is perfect for reading out loud with its rhythmic telling of a young boys adventures with his teddy bear and a day unlike any other. A story about feelings and actions, this could easily become a favorite.