Bear has a Story to Tell
Written by: Phillip C. Stead
Illustrated by: Erin E. Stead
Just before hibernation begins, Bear has a story to tell his friends. But they are all getting ready for winter, and have no time to listen to him.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Every activity has its most suitable time, and each occurrence in our world has its correct season, and precise timing. Bear understands why his friends are not able to listen to his story while preparing for winter, and realizes this is exactly the right time to be a good friend. He identifies his friends' needs, and lends a hand; helping them to find seeds, check the direction of the wind, and find a warm place to sleep. When spring arrives, Bear's friends gather around him to hear him tell his story – but alas, he has forgotten it entirely! Bear's friends seize this opportunity to help their caring friend, giving him an idea for a new story about year-round friendships.
Proposed Family Activities:
- Reading the illustrations
You may enjoy sitting comfortably, looking at the tender illustrations, and identifying the various ways in which Bear helps his friends. Perhaps you could ask your child to tell you the story by the sequence of illustrations, or imagine what story Bear was going to tell his friends before winter came along. You may also enjoy inventing another Bear story, and illustrating it together.
You could act the story out using puppets and stuffed animals. Invite the rest of your family to watch the play!
Bear is a good friend, who realizes what his friends need, and helps them. You may want to remind one another how you have helped each other throughout the day. You could choose a family member, neighbor or kindergarten friend, and think together about something they may need a hand with, and how to lend it to them.
Have you ever forgotten what you wanted to say? You could play charades together. Try to remind one another of shared experiences using familiar songs, hand gestures, or drawings.
- Help your toys get ready for winter
You may want to allocate a corner of your child's bedroom to serve as a winter corner for their stuffed animals. Perhaps you would enjoy using pillows and blankets to make burrows or caves for comfy, cozy hibernation.
Bear turns his experience into a story to tell his friends. You may enjoy making a little book together entitled The Day we have had, and fill it with drawings of the experiences you had today. You could read the book together before bedtime.
Is your child always asking for one more story during bedtime? You could place a small box or basket by their bed, containing some of their favorite books, for your child to look at on their own after saying good night. You may want to go through the basket every once in a while, and select new books with which to fill it together.
You may enjoy taking a walk in your neighborhood together, collecting colorful fallen leaves, and making prints out of them: place a piece of paper over a leaf, and color over it using red, orange and brown crayons. Hang your leaf prints around the house.