The Bear Nobody Wanted

by Janet Ahlberg, Allan Ahlberg

A teddy bear with a rather inflated opinion of himself has a series of not-always-pleasant adventures before finding a real home.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Young Adult

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Janet Ahlberg (1944-1994) was a British children's book illustrator, and the co-creator, together with her husband Allan Ahlberg, of the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born as Janet Hall in Yorkshire in 1944, she studied at Sunderland Technical College, where she met Ahlberg. The two married in 1969, and began to work together, publishing their first co-venture - The Old Joke Book - in 1976. She won the 1978 Kate Greenaway Medal from the British Library Association - an award recognizing the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject - for Each Peach Pear Plum.

Janet Ahlberg died of breast cancer in 1994, at the age of fifty, having produced many beloved and bestselling books. Her daughter with Allan Ahlberg - Jessica Ahlberg - is also a children's book creator.

Reviews

[Dominika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was somewhat expecting this not to work for my kids after seeing all the two and three star ratings and "this is boring" reviews, but my eight and ten year olds were hooked all the way through and cheered at the ending. (My five year old was not as enthused).

And I personally loved it. The writing was beautiful, a pleasure to read out loud, and was very often incredibly funny. But what I loved most is that it felt like my favorite mid-century domestic Middlebrow fiction but for the elementary aged crowd. It was a bit like spending an extended time in the universe of Peepo! WWII intrudes upon the story in the last quarter, and it led to a number of conversations with the kids about the blitz and gas masks and bomb shelters.

Did Allan Ahlberg write more full-length chapter books? I'd love to read them.

[Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing I would ever be tempted to say in my life that would describe how weirdly unsatisfied yet bored yet expectant yet not-really-even-caring-what-happens I felt with this book. I LOVED the writing, don't take away only negativity from my review, I mean the writer has the brilliant ability to write such beautifully strung together jewels of prose...but, the STORY. I just DID-NOT-CARE about this bear, which I guess is the point of the book. Nobody wanted this bear because he had an expression and a personality - only known through the omnipresent sense - that looked down on everyone and everything. I just, I couldn't really get into the story itself, even though the writing was so gorgeous! Sad, sad sad reading experience for me.

[Rick Burin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This children’s classic concerns a nameless bear who arrives off the production line feeling smug and superior – after all, a bear’s character is defined by his facial features – only to be tossed in a bin, rescued, rejected, burnt, used as a duster, savaged by a dog, repaired, briefly welcomed, relegated, forgotten, lonely, nameless, catatonic and bombed by the Nazis, on the way to a cathartic and happy ending. Telling the story in the third person but from the bear’s perspective, Ahlberg’s prose is beautiful, witty and whimsical, offering a lesson in humility and empathy, and peppered with memorable, perfectly-sketched characters and bits of human (or bearish) warmth – even as the story becomes perilously melancholy and dark.

It also economically evokes the vanished Britain of the author’s childhood: that world of smoking chimneys, cobbled streets and poky working-class houses which he wrote about so memorably in his great memoir, The Boyhood of Burglar Bill (and its sister title, My Brother’s Ghost), while ushering in a little of the timeless warmth of contemporary popular song, from 'My Blue Heaven' to 'Look for the Silver Lining'. It’s an offbeat, timeless and chokingly poignant book, and the line drawings by Janet Ahlberg (Handsome bears staring out of giant windows? Check. Chubby women with chubby sock noses? Check) are the perfect accompaniment.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic children's author-illustrators in a book for older children.

It was purely their name that made me pick this up - my childhood memories of Burglar Bill, Happy Families and Funnybones (and those of my boys). I was interested to see the pair in a chapter book format.

And it was rather lovely. In the vein of The Family From One End Street or Shirley Hughes, the nostalgia of the period seeps through, just as WWII is starting. A teddy bear is made in a factory with notions of superiority and no experience of the world. Both of these start to changes as, Black Beauty-like, he chances upon new owners, families, ways of living, and even, hopefully, friends and maybe an understanding of his place in the world.

Regular pictures add to the period feel, the text isn't too complex for a listening KS1 child, though there will be references that need explaining (mangles, air raids, rationing, etc).

It's a gentle enough story, no terrible experiences for our unnamed bear, and will hold the interest for its quaintness and toy point-of-view.

For ages 5-9.

[Snickerdoodle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one's a keeper. It's written for the 8 to 12 year old reader, published 1992 so not a really old book but written in an old fashioned, quiet kind of way, with children in mind. While it might seem too young or too slow for today's 12 year old, it would be quite easy for even the youngest in this age group to read. It would be an excellent read-aloud bedtime book for children. There might be things that would prompt a little bedtime conversation. The setting is England during WWII so there are references from the period that may or may not need explanation. It was certainly just the thing for me to read at bedtime, quite relaxing.

[Katharine (Ventureadlaxre) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story from the eys of a bear who thinks he's pretty fantastic. Sadly, he is treated as this is not so. The book has a happy ending though, so don't worry.

In this book we see war from the eyes of the bear, children, and olde England. A fantastic book from my childhood - the thought of this book being forgotten and the next generation not getting to read it makes me sad, this is a book that really needs to be shared.

[Laura Sanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute with a twist I didn't see coming and wrapping up neatly in a big red bow at the end! A great easy read!!

[Lenore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hated this book, it was the worst thing I'd ever read. I complained about how terrible it was- but I finished the book. And now, years later I look back on this with strange loving nostalgia. The fact I disliked it was a testament to my increasing reading level; the fact that I finished it was a testament to my determination to not be a quitter. I even sometimes find myself bringing up the story to people, so whether or not it is a bad book, it certainly influenced my life. Read at your own peril.

[Janet Hamm · Rating 2 out of 5]

This looked like it would be a fun book, but I did not enjoy reading it. I think maybe younger readers might enjoy it, but I am doubtful enough that I wouldn't give it as a gift. Basically I found the tone a little patronizing, the bear an unsympathetic character, and his life alternately unpleasant and dreary. There is a happy ending, if you can wade through all the misery (which doesn't have enough humour to relieve it). The pictures are very nice, though.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many adventures and misadventures experienced by one bear! I loved this little book. I love the lessons learned by a bear "full of himself" and I loved the ending. I think this would be a very good read-aloud book, for younger children and definitely a good read for children 7 years and older, even a 70-yr old child would enjoy it.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that plays off of the sometimes very powerful childhood hope that stuffed animals are secretly alive. Like other stories in this genre (The Velveteen Rabbit, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, etc), it also recognizes just how terrifying the world might be for toys if that were true.

This teddy bear doesn't start out as a kid's favorite. He doesn't even make it out of the factory where he has been "born" without being rejected for his poorly sewn face, which has a haughty expression that gives him a personality to match (apparently toys get their character from the expression they have been given. This is both disturbing and true-I know that's how I gave my toys their personalities!). From there the poor, unwanted, nameless bear suffers nearly every horrible accident and tragedy that a stuffed-animal loving kid could fear. Occasionally he finds solace in little things, like listening to people sing and discovering the existence of bubbles, but somehow this makes his situation even more sad.

The only thing that saves this book from total bleakness and despair is the writing, which is very good and somehow very upbeat and hopeful. And it does have a good ending, thankfully.

It's an odd one, but I did like it.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know it sounds stupid but it's actually pretty good. It's about a bear that nobody likes... as you can see by the title...

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book when i was little. The author grew up about this period and he really make it come alive. I would recommend this book for any young lover of teddy bears

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got bored with this book by page 80. Though Dad made me read more. Taken back to school

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, I like their picture books better; the story wasn't all that engaging although the writing was good.

[Huw · Rating 2 out of 5]

was terrible, hated it