Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep!

Big Bear #1

by Maureen Wright, Will Hillenbrand (Illustrator)

It’s time for Big Bear to hibernate, so Old Man Winter keeps telling him: “Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep.” But Big Bear doesn’t hear very well. He thinks Old Man Winter has told him to drive a jeep, to sweep, and to leap. Big Bear just can’t seem to hear what Old Man Winter is saying. Finally, Old Man Winter finds a noisy way to get Big Bear’s attention. Cozy illustrations rendered in pencil and mixed media by Will Hillenbrand bring this bedtime story to a fitting conclusion.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Humor, Fiction, Juvenile

28 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2009

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amiable bear with a hearing problem continually mishears Old Man Winter, who keeps saying "Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! in this rhyming bedtime book. As the bear does everything but that - driving a jeep, working as a sweep, climbing a mountain steep - he gets progressively more tired, until finally he does what he should have all along: go to sleep for the season...

A few years ago I read Share, Big Bear, Share! , not realizing it was the third picture-book about this lovable but hard-of-hearing bear from author Maureen Wright and illustrator Will Hillenbrand. Realizing recently that I wanted to read the autumnal story about this character, Sneeze, Big Bear, Sneeze! , I decided to go back and first read this initial story. Pairing a rhyming text with cute illustrations, Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! is a book that would work both as a basic introduction to the idea of hibernation for younger children, and as an engaging bedtime book, as the ursine hero does just what many youngsters do, in resisting going to sleep. I would recommend it for either purpose.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite bedtime book, but has cute illustrations and children might find it fun to be in on Bear's misunderstanding. This would be a good choice when a funny bedtime story is in order. (Though, I wish Old Man Winter and the bear had been a bit nicer at the end.)

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a quick read ... i love reading kids book. 1st mysteries then kids ...they are just so precious ... to recall your younger years and all the most amazing ... wonderous times ... to dream ... these drawings are amazing ... well done. so creative and fun. ur kids or adult hearts and eyes will just be amazed!! must read! hope 2 read more from this author soon enough ... what amazing art and words.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated book. This book is full of repetition and is the perfect picture book for the young reader, however it does use some interesting words which may be difficult to understand unaided. It would be a great book to take into the classroom to read with the children (Reception - Y2). The book is about a bear going on an adventure before he hibernates for the winter.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is adorable! I love the sing-song words and you can imagine Old Man Winter's voice! The illustrations are so cute! And the little bunny friend is such an adorable added bonus!

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was cute and I think the kids would find it funny but it fits a winter theme a bit more than a nap theme.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Bear is hard of hearing and keeps misunderstanding Old Man Winter's instructions to go to sleep...instead he is led to a series of adventures that will have young children laughing. Fun story.

[Christine Kallner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is so fun!

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! from the Kindle Unlimited Program.

Maureen Wright and Will Hillenbrand team up in presenting this excellent book for young children. The story is simple, easily understood by preschool age children and the illustrations are beautiful, appealing and fit to the story perfectly. The rhyme is great too and a way to help children learn the rhythm of language.

[Suzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice bedtime story with cute illustrations.

[Luann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is funny, but I would have enjoyed it more without the rhyming text. It doesn't really add to the story, and almost takes away from the funny bit of Big Bear misunderstanding Old Man Winter. Old Man Winter keeps saying, "Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep," but Big Bear hears things like "Drive a jeep, Big Bear, drive a jeep" and "Dive deep, Big Bear, dive deep." The illustrations are a lot of fun - especially the cute little rabbit that accompanies Big Bear everywhere throughout the story. This would work great in a lesson on animals in winter or hibernation.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big Bear is tired, but he doesn't hear very well, so when Old Man Winter tells him it's time to hibernate, he misunderstands, leading him to do some very un-bear-like things.

Idea is cute, rhyme is gentle, but Will Hillenbrand's illustrations are the high point. Lovely dark blues and grays with speckles of snowy white in the backgrounds, and adorable brown and green animals. Fun book to share with little ones when you're discussing how animals hibernate.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, rhythmic story to read aloud with children, and is perfect for bedtime reading. The rhyming and repetition in the narrative is great for getting children to chime in and help read the story and our girls had fun reading it aloud with me. The bear is silly and misunderstands Old Man Winter so many times that our youngest said that he needed a qtip to clean out all the wax from his ears. So funny!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Bear is a little hard of hearing. So when Old Winter tells him to sleep, he instead rides a jeep, sweeps the floor, dives deep into the water, and goes on other mistaken adventures despite his increasing sleepiness. A silly story it is, and the illustrations are drowsy, gray, and perfect. A natural storytime choice.

[Sam Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very amusing picture book where a bear keeps misunderstanding that it's time to go to sleep for the winter. The bear is a very endearing character who comes alive through this books beautiful illustrations. He has many misadventures in this book that is perfect reading for autumn (or any time).

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute story about a bear who is told by "Old Man Winter" to go to sleep but the Big Bear cannot hear well and thinks he is telling him do other things

Great story time book with lots of rhymning and beautiful illustrations

[Michelle Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

My five year daughter really enjoyed this

Very easy to read. My five year old loved it, it got a few giggles from her. Would recommended it. Beautiful illustrations

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this for my three year olds for our unit on hibernation and it was definitely a great concept I was excited to use to teach not only about hibernation but also about rhymes. . . but unfortunately I didn’t love the execution, at least for little guys. It might be appropriate in a pre-K classroom, but for threes, it was just too wordy. I feel like kindergartners wouldn’t appreciate the humor as much as there year olds would. . . the jokes were definitely geared towards little ones, but it was too wordy for them. I hate when books do that. Still, with some strategic word-deletion, it kept my kids’ attention, and some of them laughed when they realized the jokes (after I explained them a bit).

[Angelina Kerner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated short book for children with a great message about sleeping. My son lately is having a hard time falling asleep. I see him rubbing his eyes and getting tired but when I put him down for bed, he's suddenly wide awake! He sings and smiles and laughs- it's adorable so I thought to read about book by Maureen. 

This short book is funny. It made me smile and laugh because the bear was even willing to clean house when he should have been sleeping! 

Good for mothers to share with their kids. Probably for children over one year old though sooner to share is okay because of the illustrations! The bear has a buddy in this one! 

[Kalynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun add to a bear or winter animals unit, because the preK-2 audience will laugh at the bear's interpretation of what Old Man Winter is trying to tell him. Each time the bear doesn't hear Old Man Winter's suggestion of "Sleep, Big Bear, sleep", but the bear does hear something...and follows that advice. While this book will be difficult to understand for your English Language Learners (ELLs), concept-wise, the illustrations do help you connect words to actions--for example, "leap".

[Maudie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre:Modern Fantasy
Grade:2-3
This is a hilarious book filled with amazing illustrations that goes in multiple directions. I like this book also because it shows the bear and his friend bunny going through all these different adventures and misinterpreting the wind telling the bear to go to bed. It's a very cute and interesting book.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny book with lots of rhyming words. Bear keeps mistaking the wind calling "sleep, big bear, sleep" with other things that rhyme with "sleep" (sweep, leap, "drive a jeep", etc). Some of the things are funny, and others are almost too far of a stretch for the joke to work. I think kids would still enjoy it, though!

[Susan Van der Koon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep, Big Bear, We'll Keep!

Sweet story, with extra details to note and look for in the illustrations. My three grandchildren, four year twin boys and their seven year old sister, laughed and giggled as they called out corrections to the hard of hearing bear. He is not so different from their old Papa. Highly recommend this book.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really funny rhyming book about a bear who needs to go to sleep for the winter, but this bear doesn't hear very well. So the bear believes that his friend is advising him to do things like "drive a jeep" and "sweep" and ends up doing all kinds of nutty things because he doesn't realize his friend, old man winter, is telling him to go to sleep. The illustrations are great too.

[Anna Sangrey Roussel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly book where Old Man Winter continually tells Big Bear to go to sleep and hibernate. Big Bear mishears him multiple times; instead, he drives a jeep, sweeps out a house, and plays leapfrog. The whispering voice of Old Man Winter grows into a shout at the end: "Go to sleep, Big Bear!" A sweet book with sweet pictures.

[Keren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was a funny bedtime story. The bear in the book is a very sleepy bear that can not hear right. The bear hears everything but "go to sleep bear" and he goes through all these loops until he finally hears "go to bed bear". I really enjoyed the silliness of the book and definitely made me want to get in my pajamas and cuddle to sleep.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though Big Bear's droopy eyelids are telling him it's time to hibernate, his constant misunderstanding of the message the wind is trying to send him leads to a hilarious, and tiring frenzy of activity. A cute tale, with wonderful illustrations by the marvelous Will Hillenbrand.

[Kali Hilliard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3-4; poetry; If you work at / or raise your kids in a Christian home, there are definitely some biblical references throughout the story. Beautifully told, and easy poetry for kids to enjoy and follow along with!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful and funny story with equally delightful and funny illustrations. Old Man Winter kept telling Big Bear to sleep because it was hibernation time. Bear, not hearing well, did other things instead, such as sweep, leap, dive deep.
Lovely book.