The Bear's Christmas

by Brigitte Frey Moret, Alexander Reichstein (Illustrations), Rosemary Lanning (Translation)

""Once upon a time, long, long ago, bears did not hide away and sleep through the winter."" So begins this original Christmas legend about a young bear, driven by hunger, whose attack on a stray lamb is diverted by a heavenly vision. Enchanted, the bear follows the shepherds across the snowy winter fields to a stable. There a woman with a baby in her arms beckons the bear and gives him a wondrous gift that miraculously satisfies his hunger, sending him happily back to his cave to sleep until spring. And ever since that first Christmas night, bears have slept all winter long. Brigitte Frey Moret lives with her husband and children near Zurich, where she supervises an educational group for mentally handicapped adults. This is her first book.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Animals, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Dianna]

This was a cute sort of "myth" about why bears hibernate. I actually liked that aspect of the story, but a few other things made it fall flat for me.

First, the illustrations are beautiful, but the texture on them made the text hard to read in a few places. Second, historical details. The birth of Christ, as I understand it, probably happened in the spring (which would explain why there were shepherds in the fields). This book has lambs in the dead of winter. Lambs are only born in spring. Also, the stable is in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains and forest. As beautiful a picture as that makes, if I remember right, it was near an inn in the town of Bethlehem.

Mostly, this was a pretty book, but I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it fully.

[Michelle]

It's an interesting take on the story of Christ's birth told from a bear's perspective. The art style is nice but hard to see because of the effect used and the words are also hard to read.

[Hannah]

I didn’t like this book. It was all about how bears “learned” to hibernate because they were at the birth of Jesus. Doesn’t make any sense!

[JW Schlie]

Winter Bear at the Nativity?

[Josephine Bivins]

This book started with a hungry Arctic bear and ended with the Virgin Mary introducing the concept of hibernation. It might literally be the worst book ever.

[Jenny]

This beautifully illustrated story (a porquoi tale) tells us that long ago bears did not sleep all winter..they spent it looking for food. One night, a hungry bear sees shepherds and sheep and follows them, until he arrives at a stable where a kind woman with a baby (Mary) offers him food. This experience leads to bears sleeping all winter. Beautiful landscapes of winter scenes evoke both the cold and harshness of winter as well as the beauty and peace. It is a lovely story, one that it seems few people have reviewed on Goodreads but that I recommend at this Christmas season.

[Amanda]

This was a neat Advent/Christmas story. It ties together the beginning of bears hibernating for the winter with the birth of Jesus in an interesting way.