Bear Can't Sleep!

by Marni McGee

Winter is coming, and Bear can't sleep. Oh, how he rumbles and grumbles and growls and howls! "That bear sounds angry!" cry the animals. "What if he comes after us?" But Patch the Hare isn't scared of any old bear; especially after he finds out why Bear can't sleep and hatches a plan to help.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Autumn, Friendship

32 pages, Paperback

Published September 8, 2016

Reviews

[Ella]

Bear is really grumpy because he can't sleep, this scares all the other animals except Patch the hare. Patch keeps trying to help Bear but makes noise doing so which annoys him further. Patch decides to take a few items of clothing from each of his friends one night to sew a patchwork blanket for Bear to keep him warm. Everyone is annoyed until they realise what it is for and all make friends with Bear. A nice read-aloud story for FS and year 1 children that begins to discuss seasons and hibernation. There are nice themes such as friendship and inclusion. Lots of opportunities for predictions, such as, predicting what Patch is doing.

[Panda Incognito]

In this disjointed picture book, the hero "borrows" other animal's belongings without their permission and makes a quilt for the bear out of them. The other animals briefly object. Then everyone is happy and makes friends with the bear, even though they were scared of him. This makes no sense, and the message is concerning, since there's no appropriate fallout or consequences for taking people's belongings to turn them into something different. Pass on this one and read the Karma Wilson classic by the same name.

[Tapani Aulu]

Iso karhu on äkäinen kun ei saa nukuttua. Muut eläimet yrittävät auttaa, mutta pieleen menee.

[Angeles Otaño]

Read this book for Toddler Storytime at Sunset Branch Library of the Miami-Dade Public Library System where I work. The kids and parents/granparents enjoyed the story. I is a very exciting story because it keeps the children very tune to see what happens. I truly enjoyed reading the book to the kids and I also enjoyed reading it.

[Markku Kesti]

Karhu ei saa unta. Kaverit auttavat. Karhu saa unta. Piste.

[Jo Oehrlein]

It's time to hibernate and Bear can't sleep. He comes out and fusses at the other animals several times for making noise. Only Patch the Hare isn't intimidated.

Patch tries to make him food because he thinks he must be hungry. But Bear isn't hungry, he's cold. That night, Patch steals something from each neighbor and sews it together to make a quilt. He gives that to Bear and Bear is able to settle down to sleep (with the help of bedtime stories from all the friends).

Don't like that Patch took all the things for the quilt. And it's not very realistic that they sewed everything into the quit without cutting it to a shape first.

[Jenna]

Mitenhän kirjastosta on valikoitunut luettavaksi pelkästään vihaisia/ärjyviä/murisevia hahmoja sisältäviä kuvakirjoja? Tässä tarinassa on vihainen, ärjyvä karhuvaari - joka ei saa unta. Muut eläimet pelkäävät ärisevää karhua, muttei Laikku-jänis. Laikku-jänis haluaa parantaa karhun kiukkuisen tuulen ja auttaa hänet talviunille.

Sympaattinen tarina auttamisen halusta. Pahoinpelkään, että kuulijoille jäi lähinnä mieleen ärinät ja murinat auttamisen, hilpittömyyden ja ystävällisyyden sijasta.

[Rebecca Gomez]

It's cute, but it feels a little disjointed to me. Also, Patch, who is inexplicably the only animal with a name in this story, doesn't *borrow* from his friends. He steals. Best to call it what it is, even if it all works out well in the end.

[Abby Herp]

This book shows the meaning of persistence and friendship.

[Juliana Lee]

Bear can't sleep. But when his friends share some of their favorite things to help them sleep, Bear goes right to sleep.

[Haley Hulse]

This book is so great at teaching not only creativity but the value of kindness. I would want this book in my classroom because it not only has good lessons but also has a great rhythm

[Pamela Powell]

It's early winter and all the animals are getting ready, but Bear is still awake and VERY grumbly. How can the other animals help their friend? Very cute story with adorable illustrations!

[Kim]

A heart warming tale of friendship! Wonderful pictures and a nice sized book.

[Siemke Huitema]

Leuk boek met een mooie boodschap. Erg veel details in de tekeningen. Ik kan me voorstellen dat dit boek daardoor keer op keer leuk blijft.

[Virginia Swafford]

Adorable story about friend ship and not jumping to conclusions. I read this to my kindergarten students and they loved the ending the most.

[Maddy]

Leuk boek, vind vooral de tekeningen van alle dieren erg leuk. Duidelijk verhaal, met een duidelijke boodschap, en verschillende karakters komen voor.

[Mónica]

Um livro fofinho sobre a importância da amizade.

[Peyton Bell]

A bear is trying to hibernate and go to sleep, but he is having no luck. The other forest animals are afraid of the grouchy, sleepy bear except for one. They work together to create a blanket for the bear so he can go to sleep.
I thought this book was really cute. I loved how the animals were afraid of the bear like real animals are, but they got over that fear to help the bear get cozy enough and warm enough to fall asleep.
I would use this book in contrast with a nonfiction bear book. I would read the story book about bears and ask my students what all they know about bears and write it on the board. Then I would read a nonfiction bear book that gives the class information they already knew and maybe didn't know about bears. After that I would have them write down what they knew about bears, what they learned about bears, and what they thought they knew but wasn't true about bears.

[Rachel]

There are lots of picture books about bears preparing to sleep, and children love them because hibernation is a fascinating concept. This grumpy bear terrifies everyone in the forest, but one fearless hard realizes his grumpiness stems from problems getting to sleep. Once he hatches a plan to create a quilt, "borrowing" items from forest friends, all ends well. Great idea for extension activity, having kids make their own friendship quilt afterward, and animated illustrations help make this ideal for storytimes. Highly recommended.

[Christine Turner]

Winter is coming, and Bear can't sleep. Oh, how he rumbles and grumbles and growls and howls! "That bear sounds angry!" cry the animals. "What if he comes after us?" But Patch the Hare isn't scared of any old bear; especially after he finds out why Bear can't sleep and hatches a plan to help.
Subject:
Bears -- Juvenile fiction.
Forest animals -- Juvenile fiction.
Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

[Jodie]

A story about helping others.

[Peninnah]

Delightful and charming.

[Sílvia]

Lindo lindo lindo!