Scaredy Bear

Sweet Pickles #2

by Jacquelyn Reinach, Richard Hefter, Ruth Lerner Perle

Bear really wants to be friends with Pig, but is so bashful he can't figure out how to do it.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1979

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

OH, poor Bear. He's scared of people and being rejected. People think he's stuck up because he doesn't talk with them and he doesn't know what to say. I can relate to Bear, in school, this was how I survived. I was quiet and afraid. I didn't call people and they didn't know I really wanted to be friends and didn't know how to say it.

Bear plays the banjo and he likes to play in the park. Pig walks past with her piccolo having fun with those around her. Bear wants to play duets with her and be friends, but she doesn't notice him. Elephant tells him to call her. He does and hangs up on her. Some characters walk by and tell him that pig wants to play duets with him and Bear gets scared, freaks out and sadly goes home. In life sometimes we fold instead of push through our fears and bear did that here. Very sad.

I see myself in Pig as well. I was a piccolo player and despite being shy, I was cheery. I've been in both places. I missed out on a lot of things I just didn't go for because of fear. Lessons, lessons.

I was surprised by the ending and the fact that bear runs away. That was a choice, sort of brave for children's fiction, in my mind. A cute story.

The nephew thought bear was silly. What's to be scared of, he said. He has a girl he liked last year too, but he doesn't get to see her now. Anyway. He gave this 2 stars and wanted better characters.

[Hope Mullinax · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beloved classic childrens book. This book is one of many in the Sweet Pickles series and is one of my sister's favorite childhood books.She has read it to each one of her children and recently gave it to me for my own classroom library. Follow Scaredy Bear as he attempts to make a new friend, but will his fear get the best of him?

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet memories of this series. Love it!!

[Gabi Bunten · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is about a bear that wants to be friends with a pig that has a bright personality but is too shy to talk to her. When he gets the chance to speak to her, his nerves get the best of him, and he hangs up the phone on her. The main character is a bear that is bashful and turns away from trying new things. He wants to be friends with a pig that always has fun and never worries. The illustrations and text are symmetrical. The illustrations show a visual representation of what the text on each page is saying word for word. The characters as well as illustrations in the book are very detailed and the coloring of the pages appeal to readers. However, one dislike is that the story ends with the bear still being shy and never talking to the pig (sad ending). Though, this may be the theme of the Sweet Pickle books, each book shows the personality of each character. This book could be used in a classroom to teach a unit on character descriptions and having students identify the different emotions portrayed throughout the story.

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to a read aloud of this one because I couldn't find it but I think my read-alouds are way better and I would have appreciated it more lol