Don't Wake Up the Bear!

by Marjorie Dennis Murray, Patricia Wittmann (Illustrator)

It’s a cold, snowy night, and a big, soft bear sleeps soundly in his cave. A small hare wanders by, and since his ears are so cold, he snuggles up in the bear’s cozy den. Before long, a fox comes along with the same idea. "You may come in," says the hare, "but don’t wake up the bear!" As the night wears on, the nest of sleeping animals expands until a mouse with a cold curls up right in the bear’s ear-and wakes him up with a loud sneeze! Warm, playful illustrations and a repeating refrain make this bedtime book perfect for year-round reading.

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

16 pages, Board Book

First published February 1, 2003

Reviews

[Alice]

I like the pictures in this book, I like the warm snugly feeling of all the forest creatures cuddling up with a sleeping bear.. "BUT DON'T WAKE the BEAR" .but it only takes one (a mouse of course...mice are evil) to ruin everyone's warm, cozy sleep.

[Cynthia Gutzwiller]

A bear was asleep peacefully. A hare was hopping by with cold ears. I wish I could snuggle up with that big, soft, warm bear. So he went up quietly. Then a badger came up and he was cold. I wish I could snuggle up with the big, soft, warm bear. Rabbit told him, don't wake up the bear. Then a fox came up who had cold legs. The bunny told him, don't wake the bear. How many animals came by and were cold? Who finally woke the bear? What did the bear do?
Little kids are going to love this board book. Bear snores and they hope they dont wake him. With the wonderful illustrations you can see the cold animals. You can also whisper through part of the book so you won't wake up that cranky beast. I highly recommend this wonderful bedtime story book.
I borrowed this book on a Kindle Unlimited website and so can you.

[Angieleigh]

This was such a cute story! All the little animals seeking shelter from the bitter cold, curling up next to the big, hibernating bear...I'm sure there are analogies that could be made about this book.

My nephew loved it and it will probably be one we read again in the future.

[Nikki]

My daughter read this at story time. I was so impressed with her improved reading. We really enjoyed the story.

[Elizabeth]

Ooh, Wisconsinites can relate to frigid temperatures and desiring to warm up. Hare starts the ball rolling by realizing how comfy cozy Bear would be to keep her EARS warm. As each subsequent animal has the same idea, Hare invites them to join her but warns them, "Don't wake the bear".
Hare--ears; Badger--nose; Fox--legs; Squirrel--toes; Mouse--tail. Mouse is the last to join but thinks Bear's EAR would be a good place to burrow. (haha) How would that feel to Bear? A tiny animal with a tail burrowing in his ear?! Mouse is also, unfortunately, the animal who sneezes and everything is disrupted to the point that Bear takes a ramble for a berry snack break! Fun story. I also used this song to the tune of Frere Jacques...Bear is sleeping/ in the cave/ I wonder when he'll come out/ In the spring; Birds are flying/ In the sky/ I wonder when they'll come back/ In the spring.

[Linda Edwards]

Big sleeping bear

The drawings in the book are charming, the story is cute until the end. I would have liked a different ending. I gave this 4 stars because I like to see some sort of message in childrens books and I feel that is missing in this one. Maybe for the ending, more about sharing, either all the other animals huddled together for warmth or maybe even the bear allowing them to stay. I guess it is sort of a surprise ending. I think the younger set would still enjoy it, especially if you whispered the rabbits words.

[Elizabeth Sorn]

It is a cold winter’s eve and creatures of the forest are looking for a nice and warm place to nest; a bear! Who would have thought that nestling on a bear would be the best option? These creatures did and one by one they nestled. However, it takes just one sound to wake up the bear. I chose this book because the illustrations are beautiful and easy for young readers to connect words to the photos. The sneakiness in the book provides a warm and playful text! In a reading classroom, students can use the illustrations of the story to demonstrate understanding of the setting, plot, and characters!

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-2

[Angela Lambkin]

What a cute story of how they all got along so well until...

The very small font size. Great story as well as the illustrations. Therefore I wish to rate and recommend this for five stars, for kids ages 3-7 and or in grades P-2. I received this for free using KU, and in return, here is my honest review.
Super work Marjorie! By Sunny.

[Nancy]

The illustrations were naturalistic and lovely. The bear was the first animal introduced, and then other animals want to snuggle up with the warm cozy bear, but each animal says " Don't wake up the bear!" This was a fun way to introduce different animals, and I loved the illustrations.

[Raquyyah Griffin]

Not engaging

Weak my 3 year olds were not interested in the story at all. Illustrations were good. But needs more of a story line.

[Hannah Hanson]

Nice book

My son who is only 11 mts old has really enjoyed being read this book. :-) Cute story! I might just buy the real copy for him.

[elizabeth]

Nice for kids less than 6

Rhyming, repetition...good for the little kids. Keeps them really interested. I'd recommend it. It's also not too long. Thanks so much

[Christine Grant]

Hibernation Story Time. Cute story about animals joining a sleeping bear during the winter.

[Adriel Botelho]

Loved it!

[Susan Halko]

I picked up this book again today for sentimental reasons—I read it aloud to my kids’ grade school classes back when they were little. It’s a fun read-aloud!

[DiAnne Warfield]

PJ story time 2-27-19

[Cheryl]

Sweet until the false melodrama at the climax. Sheesh. And no, Camden, it is not actually about hibernation.

[Elizabeth Edwards]

bear style, i wish the bear looked more real? but they are fun illustrations. check it out.

[Cindee Karns]

We love this book!

It reminds us of winter. It exciting and it surprises us when the bear wakes up. And the mouse sneeze is so cute!

[Elizabeth]

Don’t Wake Up the Bear! By Marjorie Dennis Murray – Cute illustrations and a sweet story! Happy Reading!

[Lottie]

A cute children’s book.

[Carole]

A bear is sleeping and various animals come to his den to get warm by cuddling with the bear.

[Jane]

Don't Wake Up the Bear! is an excellent book to read to groups of preschool age children and have them interact with the book as you read it with them. The phrase Don't Wake Up the Bears! is repeated on most pages and once the children hear the book a few times they start whispering it with the reader. The illustrations are beautiful and attractive to young children. The cadence is fun for the children to get into and keeps their attention. This is an excellent book to read before nap hour to calm down the group for a quiet time. It would be a good bedtime book for children too.

I have owned a copy for a number of years and Don't Wake Up the Bears! is one of my favorite books to use with groups of children.

[Amanda]

We borrowed this book from the library. I read this book one time to my 2.5 year old and I think I am going to read it again to him tonight, I enjoyed it that much. It was a good book to be animated with and to teach about "whispering" and "not waking" someone up. I just had a baby (who is 5 months now) and can sometimes be easy to stir, and my son is sometimes OVER THE TOP with his voice.

At one point, being the reader, I was scared that they were showing the bear to be really scary and dangerous when he was woken up (I guess to show that someone can be mad when they are woken up by someone else being too loud?) and my first thought was that the bear was going to eat them! Well, my son did guess the ending (the bear was hungry!) but he ended up eating berries at the end.

[Heidi-Marie]

This is a cute build on story, and one that the kids could start to help in the telling because of its repetitiveness. I like the illustrations. Someone mentioned that a basic flannel of the Mitten could be used for this as well. Definitely worth trying in preschool storytime.

1/22/14 The kids and parents both loved this. I didn't do a flannel, just read the book and had the kids join me in "Don't wake up the bear!" (Whispering of course.) I had them be the bear in waking up and growling, too. They were very involved and were interested for the entire book. Yay! A great addition for the snow/winter theme.

[Kayla]

This book would be great for beginning readers because of the use of repetition. Even if the children were unsure of what the name of the animal was in the book they could easily figure it out by using the illustrations. All of the animals were cuddled up to the bear since they were cold and he was sound asleep. Finally the little mouse that was snug in the bears ear sneezed and woke up the bear. The animals ran because the bear was hungry. They realized the bear just wanted some berries from the tree, not to eat them!

[Dolly]

This is a fun story about a bunch of animals who are cold and want to snuggle up to a hibernating bear. The illustrations are colorful and the narrative is entertaining. The story reminded me somewhat of The Mitten, although the animals didn't get as squished in this tale. The ending has a bit of drama, but a happy ending.

[Ina]

Bear is asleep in his cave, a wonderfully inviting big bear who was soft and warm...and one by one animals are driven into Bear's cave by the cold and snow. Hare arrives first, then badger. As each new animal arrives, they receive a welcome and then a warning,"but don't wake up the bear!" My storytime audience loved saying this phrase each time a new animal arrived. They also loved the big, beautiful illustrations.

[Rebecca Crunden]

I, too, would like to cuddle a big warm bear.

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[Krystal]

the beautiful writing, and the fun cadence of this book make it an awesome story to read to children. My son was 1 when I started reading this book to him, and my daughter 3. From the first read they picked up favorite phrases (and all of them are great), and would say them along with me...."you may come in" whispered the hare, "but don't wake up the bear" is one of my sons favorites.