Don't Wake the Bear!

by Steve Smallman

From deep in the woods came a rumbling sound so grumbly and loud it was shaking the ground! The animals crept up and what did they see? A huge hairy bear fast asleep in their tree! Oh no! It's the Spring Party today! The animals tiptoe past with party cakes and wobbling plates until SOMEONE make a very loud noise..uh-oh! Have they woken the bear?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Animals

Paperback

Published January 1, 2014

About the author

Steve Smallman lives in Staffordshire with his wife, two dogs and two cats. He has four children and a grandchild. Steve has been illustrating children’s books for almost 30 years and writing his own stories for slightly less. He also teaches illustration workshops in schools, including mural-painting. Steve is the author of Smelly Peter the Great Pea Eater (Winner of the Sheffield Children's Book Award 2009) and The Lamb Who Came for Dinner (Shortlisted for the Red House Children's Book Award and read by Meatloaf on CITV's Bookaboo). When he’s not working, Steve enjoys films, television, gardening and walking in the countryside.

Steve Smallman on Steve Smallman:

I started working as an illustrator when I was in my final year at Art College and now, over 28 years later I still haven't got a proper job! I've illustrated literally hundreds of books, predominantly in educational publishing. A few years ago I was main illustrator for Longman's 'Story Street' reading scheme, illustrating 79 titles and writing 5.

I've worked in children's television, specifically in character development and most notably in the 'Raggy Doll' series in the mid to late 1980's. I have also done a certain amount of licensed work, illustrating characters such as Postman Pat, Bill and Ben and Sesame Street.

I've been described as an 'Animal Artist', not I hasten to add because I'm wild and hairy but because I love to draw animals and especially like to give them human characteristics.

I've been writing children's books for about 6 years and have already had several picture books published with more in development.

I've got 4 great children and although they're all adults now, my memories of them growing up inspire and inform my writing.

Reviews

[Farjaneh_]

قشنگ بود، هم متنش هم تصاویرش 😍💫

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)]

I don't know what to think about this one. It is fun but I kept feeling like I was reading another person's book - the bear series by Karma Wilson.

[Isobel]

A lovely tale about a sleeping bear. The book is full of repetitive phrases like don’t wake the bear and certain words are bold and capitalised to symbolise fear and danger. The book could also be used to teach children about hibernation.

[Helen]

A great story for reading aloud, with a neat twist at the end. I love Steve Smallman stories, and Caroline Pedler is one of my favourite illustrators.

[Sofia Garrod]

I loved reading this book to my son, there’s rhymes all the way through and the story was so very nice and lovely ❤️

[Elisabeth]

I would like this so much better if I didn't feel like it was uncomfortably too close to a Karma Wilson/ Jane Chapman book.

[Stefani]

Cute, but definitely a Bear Snores On rip. Still, kids won't care, and for parents over 500 readings of Bear Snores On or when it's all checked out before storytime, this is a nice alternative.

[Devin]

At the end of the book, they learnt how to make friends with a ginormous and grizzly and hairy bear the other animals except for hair for that the bear is going to be big and hairy if he was woken up, and then when her real realized that that was true he was trying to help by blowing a balloon for the party, and then the animal said don’t blow it too big otherwise I will pop and then it woke up the grizzly bear and hairy bear and ginormous bear that everybody was frightened and went to death, but her hair wasn’t He was just OK, but the bear wasn’t scary who was as friendly as a normal animal. He was in a bad bear. He was a friendly bear and I wanted to say where they were and they run away from the grizzly Hari ginormous, bear and scary, but then they came back to the party and invited the bear in the party because he wasn’t bad and scary. It’s just a story to channel that you’re not allowed to be naughty be good every time even when you’re a grown-up be safe everybody don’t get caught being naughty that’s why you always need to be good. That’s why God said we are not allowed to be naughty otherwise we might be told off.

[Leah Savas]

Both my 2-year-old son and I love this book. I'm partial to forest picnics and teacups, and he's partial to balloons and bunnies, all of which appear in this story.

It is very similar to Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson, but the teacups aren't nearly as cute in Wilson's books, so I'd say this one has earned its place. Plus, it's hard to beat a good rhyme about woodland creatures, especially when coupled with clean and bright artwork.

[Mom_reading_childrens_books]

My son LOVED the hole in the cover and kept putting his arm through it. 😅

This was a lovely book, I quite liked the illustrations, reminiscent of Karma Wilson's bear books. It rhymes and the story is fun. And I guess you get a bit of a lesson as well, since all the animals assume the bear will be angry and scary, but instead he's fun and becomes their friend.

[Laura Boden]

This was my all time favourite book to read two both my children when they were small. Absolutely loved it so much that the book got so worn I really want to repurchase it just for the memories and to read it again. Love this book 🥰

[Tanya]

I very much enjoy reading this book with my 15 month-old. The story is a cute one and the rhyming text includes different font sizes that suggest where the reader might change their voice to aid in the story telling. Little one now looks for the 'pop' page and claps his hands and says 'pop' to imitate the balloon bursting.

[Andrea]

The story is charmingly illustrated. The rhyming text has different font sizes, suggesting readers to change their voice in the story-telling.

[معصومه توکلی]

عنوان ترجمه ی فارسی: خرگوش کوچولو خرس را بیدار نکنی!

[Sam Mason]

It has lots of animals in that I like

[Ham ‍J.Sohi]

فقط به خاطر طراحی های خوب کتاب

[Kelly]

A great book about friendship

[Ashley Poll]

The animals try hard not to wake up bear as they prepare for the party, but what will happen when bear is accidentally woken up?

[Cristina Martinez]

Definitely our favorite bedtime story.
The story is super cute, the ilustrations are different and my kid loved them.
Great book!

[Ruth Lanton]

Absolutely adorable! (Though not as cute as the little girl I was reading the book to.)

[Moodles]

I liked this book because I liked the rhymes and I liked how the bear thought it was his party but it wasn't!

[Abbie]

My daughter loved this book and said it was her favourite as she loves the bunny x

[Rima Seraj]

My son just turned 1 year old, and he adores it and wants to hear it again and again.

[Elliott]

Very sweet!! Easily presents a message in a digestable way for an early years audience.

[Kate Amedeo]

The woodland animals are having a party. But, oh no, the bear has fallen asleep in the hollow tree right where they were planning to have their party! Not to worry, they can still have a party, though, if they do it quietly. All seems to go as planned until… Until the hare decides to add one last touch – he brings a big, red balloon and starts to blow… It’s easy to guess what happens next, a very loud Pop! wakes the scary, hairy bear up. But what do you know, it turns out that even though bears are very hairy, they are not one bit scary! The bear joins their party and even brings a pot of honey.

This is a wonderful picture book by Steve Smallman, illustrated by Caroline Pedler. It’s written in rhyme, though, you will not find any repetitions here so it will be a lot more difficult to memorise (if you are like me, that is, someone who walks through town with the baby while reciting one of the stories and imitating all the character voices, ignoring the looks of passers-by).

I have to be honest, I picked the book up because of its beautiful illustrations. I am a sucker for pretty illustrations and this one hooked me with its cover. It is a cover with a “hole”, the bear is sleeping in the hollow tree and through the “hole” a bunny is peeping in from the first page. And I knew I had to get the book when I opened it and saw that it was written in rhyme.

The story in itself is nice. I love picture books that DO have a story, and, oh, how many there are with some beautiful artwork with nothing to show for the content. Some have an excuse, the so-called touchy-feely kind, but even then, is it so hard to actually have a story to go with all the textures? (Ellie loves Puppy’s World by Hannah Wood but the book is empty, we just love to touch things)

Ok, returning back to the review of this book. Another thing me and Ellie like is the part where the bunny blows and blows and blows… I gently blow on Ellie’s face and she loooves it. And then there is the anticipation of the “surprise” Pop! on the next page.

And I love how the illustrator showed the bear to be so very big compared with the other animals by turning the pages vertically. A very clever touch.

One more thing I would like to mention is the font of the text. It’s very cute and some of the words are bigger in size so it helps to read the book putting the emphasis in the “right” places, which comes kind of naturally thanks to the word size variation.

All in all, a wonderful book about forest animals with a nice story and beautiful illustrations. Another must-have for any child’s bookshelf!

[Issy]

Pretty illustrations and a cozy little story.

[Kate Amedeo]

The woodland animals are having a party. But, oh no, the bear has fallen asleep in the hollow tree right where they were planning to have their party! Not to worry, they can still have a party, though, if they do it quietly. All seems to go as planned until… Until the hare decides to add one last touch – he brings a big, red balloon and starts to blow… It’s easy to guess what happens next, a very loud Pop! wakes the scary, hairy bear up. But what do you know, it turns out that even though bears are very hairy, they are not one bit scary! The bear joins their party and even brings a pot of honey.

This is a wonderful picture book by Steve Smallman, illustrated by Caroline Pedler. It’s written in rhyme, though, you will not find any repetitions here so it will be a lot more difficult to memorise (if you are like me, that is, someone who walks through town with the baby while reciting one of the stories and imitating all the character voices, ignoring the looks of passers-by).

I have to be honest, I picked the book up because of its beautiful illustrations. I am a sucker for pretty illustrations and this one hooked me with its cover. It is a cover with a “hole”, the bear is sleeping in the hollow tree and through the “hole” a bunny is peeping in from the first page. And I knew I had to get the book when I opened it and saw that it was written in rhyme.

The story in itself is nice. I love picture books that DO have a story, and, oh, how many there are with some beautiful artwork with nothing to show for the content. Some have an excuse, the so-called touchy-feely kind, but even then, is it so hard to actually have a story to go with all the textures? (Ellie loves Puppy’s World by Hannah Wood but the book is empty, we just love to touch things

[Big Book Little Book]

Helen for www. bigbooklittlebook.com

Bear has gone to sleep in a tree very near where the animals are planning to have their Spring party. The animals think that bears are scary and are terrified of waking him up so they set about their party preparations as quietly as they can. As they totter back and forth with noisy crockery and a slippery jelly they have the odd mishap, but when hare starts to blow up a balloon and then gets carried away and it pops what will happen when bear wakes up? Of course bear turns out to be quite different from what the animals expected and is very excited at being able to join in with the party.

This is a sweet, rhyming story that my girls like to join in with, they enjoy wondering what bear will do, the anticipation of the balloon bursting and then the party at the end. The pictures are charming, light hearted and weave in beautifully with the text. There is plenty to look at and enjoy. I also liked the uses of different sizes of text in the book, it definitely makes it easy to read aloud with lots of emphasis and drama.

Verdict: This is a lovely story and fun for younger children.

[Ashley R.]

Don't Wake the Bear! was a very enjoyable book to read! The animals in the story are trying to throw a party and plan everything. On their way to setting up and obtaining materials, each of them does something that makes a lot of noise, scaring all of the animals into thinking that they woke the bear from his hibernation. One noise was just too loud and the bear actually did wake up. The funny thing is that the bear thought the party was for him, so he was not grumpy and the other animals pretended like this was true. Everyone enjoyed the party! The illustrations were hand drawn and very colorful. It was very fun to see all of the small details within the book that helped tie the story, the setting, and the characters all together. Children can have a lot of fun making the exaggerated noises written in the book. They also can sense the suspense waiting to see what happens!

[Julee]

Little forest friends are preparing for a Spring celebration taking great care to stay quiet to avoid waking a hairy, scary bear that is sleeping in a hollowed out tree right where the party is to be held. When little hare blows a red balloon up too much, it POPS waking the bear.

Loved it! Yes, it is like Katma Wilson's Bear Snores On but it is just as charming and wonderful. My students were so engrossed in my reading of the story that I hadn't realized the teachers were equally captivated until one of them startled herself by shouting out an answer to one of my question prompts. This is a sure sign of a great read aloud story.