Bear's New Friend

Nicely produced but the verse doesn't quite ring true and the plot is minimal.

cute book about bear and all his new friends!

This is a story about Bear who hears a noise in the woods. Bear keeps running into his normal friends in the woods but none of them are the ones making the noise. In the end the animal making the noise was hiding because it was scared and is happy to be friends with Bear.

The pictures in this book

Show More

are really cute. My two year old loved the repetitive phrase "And Bear says 'Who?'" He loved repeating the Who part. He also loved naming the animals and repeating the sounds they would make.

Unfortunately this book is pretty long and wordy for a board book and I have had a lot of trouble getting my son to sit down and read it. He loves to read books, normally he will tolerate a longer book, but he tells me this one is boring and always wants to put it away. The parts where Bear says "Who?" don't necessarily make any sense with the rest of the story and are kind of put in weird places. Also this book doesn't really teach anything about friendship; it says on the cover it is "A Book About Friendship". If anything it touches on issues of shyness but even that is only brief.

In summary the pictures are cute. The story length and content leave a lot to be desired (especially from my two year old son's point of view). This book will never be a favorite of his or mine. Also don't be misled, this isn't a story that teaches some sort of deep-seated lesson about friendship. It also isn't a story that is educational in any way. The only positive parts about this book were the repetitive "Who?" phrases that my son enjoyed and the fact that there are animals in the story. It's an okay book but will most likely be gotten rid of sooner than later.

Show Less

Bears New Friend is a sweet story with a simple plot. Karma Wilson writes in rhyme text for the early reader and well drawn, charming illustrations are produced with rich, green forest backgrounds by Jane Chapman. Bear and other kind forest animals find and welcome a shy new forest friend (an owl).

Show More

This delightful children's book is a perfect summertime read aloud story. I recommend this book for toddlers, preschool and kindergarten. I love this book! ***** stars!

Show Less

This story is about an owl who is bashful. He sees Bear and his friends, but is too scared to come out of hiding. The animals are finaly able to convence him to come out of hiding and play. Everyone at some point everyone is afraid to join in with new people. I would use this book to do a

Show More

friendship lesson. I would first have the class help me feel out a chart on what a friend is and what they are not. Then I would have them tell me of a time when they where new, and see how others treated them. We would then pretnd there was a new kid in the class who is shy, and i would have the kids tell me how they would trea the new person.

Show Less

Wilson, Karma. (2006). Bear's New Friend. Illustrated by Jane Chapman. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
This story is told in rhyme and is the story of a bear in search of his friends to play. Bear keeps hearing someone yell out "Who" as he roams the forest looking for all his friends. Throughout the

Show More

story, Bear continues to meet up with his friends Mouse, Hare, Gopher and Mole and all the while he continues to hear "Who". In the end, he finally see who has been saying "who": a friendly Owl that has come to be his friend.
The illustrations in this story are great and filled with many colors and done with acrylic paint. They rhyming verse was also great because it built up this suspense that my kids really loved.

Show Less

Young children will enjoy this book, however, it lacks the initial charm of "Bear Snores On", in my opinion. The first 2 books of the series are the strongest and most memorable. Children will want to add this book to their collection, though,because they have fallen in love with the whimsical

Show More

characters, and want a complete set!

Show Less

Another character joins the Bear crew. Now it's an owl, a shy owl. If you've been reading the other books, this one would be appealing too.

Bear’s New Friend
By Karma Wilson (2009)

I liked Bear’s New Friend by Karma Wilson for three reasons. First, I liked Wilson’s ability to rhyme throughout the book. For example, “…there’s a clatter in the tree! Oh, what could it be?” Tree and be rhyme. In addition, “Who’s hiding up

Show More

there? Perhaps it is the Hare?” There and hare rhyme. Thus, readers can see Wilson’s talent within her writing. The second thing I liked was the repetition present in the story. Specifically, Wilson repeats the phrase, “And the bear asks, 'Who'?” five times. By repeating this phrase, readers can clearly understand how curious the bear is to find out who is making noises. Finally, I liked how Wilson introduced readers to strange animals, for instance, a hare, gopher, mole, badger, raven, and a wren. In my opinion, the animals presented are not children’s ‘favorites,’ so this book expands reader’s knowledge about animals. Overall, the “big idea” of Bear’s New Friend is to keep your mind open, and welcome new friends, regardless of the circumstances.

Show Less

Bear just wants to have fun in the sun with his friends, but a noise startles him and he decides to figure out where it's coming from. Bear gathers his friends along the way, to help him find out what's making the noise. Young readers are introduced (or re-introduced) to mouse, raven, wren, badger,

Show More

and many more friends. It's an adorable stpry that focuses on shyness, and how much fun you can have when you decide to "come out of hiding" and play with new friends. The book focuses on kindness and including all those around you.

Show Less