I Don't Care! Said the Bear

by Colin West

The big brown bear has no fear of a bad-tempered goose, a big pig, or even a wolf, but something very small causes him to run scared

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

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Colin West has been writing and illustrating books for children as long as he can remember. He works in the attic studio of his house in Epping, England, which he shares with his wife, Cathie.

Reviews

[Kimberlee Gutterman]

This predictable book had a cumulative story line. Fist, it introduce the "moose on the loose". Then it said there was a "bad-tempered goose" and so on, until on the last page it repeated the moose, goose as well as a pig, snake and wolf. While the bear was walking a "teeny-weeny" mouse was telling him all this but all the bear had to say was "I don't care." However, the bear didn't know he was a mouse until the end. Once he turned around and realized it was a mouse he got scared and ran back to his lair. I really enjoyed the book up until the ending because I feel like it ended very abruptly and I was left wondering what was going to happen to the bear. I'm not sure if children will dislike it like me or if they will enjoy this but I don't think I will be reading this for my children. I did think it was nice that on the back of the last page it had a "giggle club joke" section with an animal joke. Also, there was a checklist of other books in this series that you could check off as you read them. I think this could be helpful in a classroom.

[Amanda Alexander]

I read this book to my children, two boys, over 20 years ago, but now find myself remembering the joy of such a simple story, I was able to read aloud with such drama, that they were variously enthralled, fascinated and a teeny bit frightened, but only safely so. I still find myself walking around saying to myself, “I don’t care, said the bear, with his nose in the air“. I love the rhythm of the words, like a chant, and It still makes me feel brave now, age 60 1/2. I think it made them feel brave too.

[Darin Johnston]

We follow the adventure of a bear and a teeny-weeny mouse throughout a snow covered setting. The mouse warns the bear of various animals in the book, to which the bear replies: " 'I don't care,' said the bear with his nose in the air. " A great book on sequencing, predicting the next page, and how a twist can create a great ending.

Four stars for the above mentioned pieces. A great book for younger students!

[Caroline Herfindahl]

The cartoon drawings and the simple rhyming text that builds as each critter is introduced to the bear makes this a fun read aloud that leads up to the surprise end for the bear that doesn’t seem to care.

[Carfig]

One of Lucy's (and Art's and mine) from when she was little.

[The Brothers]

A repeating story (like The Old Woman Who Swallowed the Fly) about a little mouse trying to scare a bear with all sorts of different animals. In the end, it's the mouse who's the one that gets to the bear! Asher (5 years old) reads this story aloud to Dex (2 years old). Very cute.

Fun, silly illustrations

[Brooke Devarennes]

This book is great for teaching ending sounds; especially -are and -ear words. This is also a great sequencing book because there is a multitude of animals that all interact with the bear in the same way: remembering the order of the animals, etc.

[Susan]

a bear does not care if there is a moose on the loose nor a bad-tempered goose...you get the drift. A fun culmultive tale for storytime, especially winter themed ones.

[Jo-Ann]

Book Buddy:
Fiction:




Nonfiction:
Scary Creatures: Bears





Activity/Movement/Song:





Craft:

[Heather Stewart]

My daughter's absolute favorite book as a young child.

[Rakisha]

Fun rhyming story which reminds one of Dr. Seuss. I laughed out loud.

[Stefany]

Very cute children's book! My husband's favorite.