Bear Flies High

Bear #2

by Michael Rosen, Adrian Reynolds (Illustrator)

What child doesn't imagine being able to fly? Well, Bear is no different. When he sees seagulls at the beach whirling and diving, he must learn how. Luckily, there are four children who know exactly how to make that Take a trip to an amusement park and play on all the rides. Swoopy swoopy swoopitty swoop ! An exhilarating story that showcases Rosen's signature lyrical style, Bear Flies High is another perfect read-aloud with a familiar and lovable character.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Adventure, Storytime

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Monty · Rating 4 out of 5]

One day Bear spots some seagulls flying through the air and decides he'd like to do just that. Unfortunately, bears can't fly! What is he to do? In his quest for flight, Bear goes to an amusement park for the day with children and has fun playing on the rides.

I read this book to my Nursery class and they loved it. The lyrical rhythm to Michael Rosen's text and repeated refrain of "I wish I could fly up high/Up high?/Up high!" encourages children to join in and read it with you. It is easy to involve actions when telling the story and my class enjoyed flapping their wings like a bird in response to the "swoop, swoop, swoopity, swoop" and creating actions in response to the other sounds on every page.

The illustrations are beautiful, vibrant and colourful. This lovely picture book is most suitable for Early Years and is a great resource for improving language skills, repetition and rhythm.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a nice rhyme. Same author as "We're Going on a Bear Hunt". Bear wishes he could fly and some kids take him to a fair. My kids liked this book enough that we read it a few times in a row. Nothing wrong with it. My son's favorite page (as an example of the rhyme and meter of the book) is: "Haunted house whooping loud./Whooping loud?/Whooping loud./Haunted house whooping loud all day./ Hoo woo/ Hoo woo/ Hoo woopity woo!" On that page the kids and bear skip on the top of the page and the bottom is like in the haunted house, huddled together with a ghost swooping towards them in the foreground, but in the shadows there is a monster, a spider, and a skeleton.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Bear spots some seagulls soaring high above him, he thinks about how much fun it must be to fly. There's just one problem -- bears don't have wings. Luckily, Bear has four young friends who know exactly what to do: Take a trip to an amusement park and try all the "uplifting" rides!

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn’t quite what I expected, but Alex liked it. So we’re going to split the difference on this rating.

[Chad Seevers · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a fun book to read as a class. it goes over what a good friend should be and it goes over even though you cant do something, there are other hings that you can do.

[Angelina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't see the point in this one. Was it supposed to be a song? Hard to tell. Nice pictures, but that was all.

[Jc · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting take on a bear wishing to fly.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like I should have had a tune to go along with it. But it was cute nonetheless.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bear wishes he could fly, so some children take him to an amusement work. I didn't really enjoy the repetition of words, but I did like the pictures.

[Jern-yi]

Somewhat disappointed with this bc I adore We’re going on a bear hunt. The rhythm of these words just didn’t feel as intuitive

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosen wrote his story in a lyrical style. There is no music attached to the lines (that I could find). I wish it had a tune, so it could have been sung.

I didn't want to repeat so much text during storytime, so I picked out the major lines and skipped the rest. I also skipped the haunted house page during storytime since my theme was flying and not amusement parks.

Theme: Flying
Additional themes: bears, amusement parks

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun sing-song story about the bear and his friends at the sea shore and going on an amusement park adventure. It has big, colorful illustrations and a narrative that encourages interaction between parent and child. Our girls enjoyed reading this book aloud with me.

[Kena Kump · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute book, the author kept repeating the last three words on each page, which was great for children to learn new words by repitition. The illustrations are very colorful, but I don't think the story was very unique or interesting.

[Romelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sing-songy book with fun onomatopoeia and word repetition. The text would make a great campground song. A book about kids helping a bear experience what it's like to fly in all sorts of ways. Theme: friendship.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is hard to compete with Karma Wilson's Bear books, especially if you are writing in rhyme. This book might have been more successful if music was given to sing the text, but as it stands, this book falls very flat.

[carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended Ages: pre-K - 1 st grade

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitive text allows for audience participation - preschool level

[Jami · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess you have to know in advance how it's supposed to be read since the wording flows all herky-jerky otherwise.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay...it would be fine for Storytime. The problem is that it's just not memorable. It reminded me of a watered down, not nearly as fun version of We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

[John]

A great storytime read!

[Danie P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bear goes on an adventure to fly. Four children help him and the children are of mixed ethnicity. Rhyming/Chanting opportunity for audience participation.

[Brindi Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

artwork on carnival

[Iamaby En · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it's a bit long for toddlers, this book has a lot of rhyming text and repetition. The bear is really, really cute, and the illustrations are big and brightly coloured.

[Marissa Elera · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the ingredients for a successful picture book, yet it somehow falls totally flat. Did not perform well in storytime. The art, however, is just ultra adorable.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay. standard friends fare.