Where's My Teddy? And Other Stories

Eddy and the Bear #1-3

by Jez Alborough

Eddie's in for the surprise of his life when he discovers that his teddy bear has grown much too big to cuddle. But there's fun in store when Eddie meets up with a real bear who's got just the opposite problem--his lost teddy bear has shrunk to a size that's much too small for such an enormous bear to cuddle. Could it be a case of mistaken identity? Full color.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

100 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Jez is the author and illustrator of 48 books for children. In 2018 he published The Story of 'You' his first book for adults, the first in a series called Life Beyond Personality. He says: "We enter this world as pure Oneness, (what I call our ‘original state of Being’) but we lose this as we become identified with our Personality. In that identification, the Stillness and Love of our Original State is overshadowed by the suffering of the Personality.

"Our Personality creates its own dream from the deep-seated beliefs and emotions it harbours; a dream that can be full of emotional distress, over-thinking and the constant investment in a future which never quite delivers on the belief: ‘When I get this I’ll be happy.’ The Story of ‘You’ suggests it’s possible to wake up out of that dream. When that happens, a whole new adventure begins in a life beyond the Personality."

The Infinite Journey, the second Book in the series, is published in early 2019.


Children's Books

His Eddy and the Bear trilogy (which began with the much-loved Where's My Teddy in 1992) has sold nearly four and a half million copies and was made into an BAFTA award-winning animated television series.

Duck in the Truck (published in 1999) heralded the start of another bestselling series, this time featuring the irrepressible Duck and his three friends - Frog, Goat and Sheep. There are currently nine books in the Duck series and almost than 1.5 million copies have been sold.

In 2000 Jez created Hug - a powerful and touching book of only three words about a baby chimpanzee called Bobo who loses his Mom. Oprah Winfrey raved about it on her show when she chose it for her recommended reading list while Richard Curtis (the writer and director of Four Weddings and a Funeral) selected it as one of his ‘Best Books’, calling it ‘classic family drama which holds up well next to Jez’s other masterpieces.’ Bobo went on to star in thee more classics; Tall ( which along with Hug won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Book Award) Yes and Play. The series has sold almost 3 million copies.

Jez lives in West London. You can read more about his books for children in the JezAlborough.com library and about The Story of 'You' at LifeBeyondPersonality.com.

Jez's Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/jezalborough and you can follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jezalborough

Reviews

[Kimberly Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this children's picture book! At the beginning the first few pages have no framings which gives us as the reader a feeling of living in that moment to create a sense of reality and gives us a wide view of how big the forest is. As if you are going on the journey to find the teddy with the character. The forest scenery sets a calming and relaxed atmosphere by the use of the light shades of natural woodland colours. The colours appear to become more bold during tense and moments in the book.
The character 'Eddy' starts off on the left page right at the bottom corner and appears to look very small in size compared to the larger, tall forest. As the character 'Eddy' makes he way through the forest on his journey to find his teddy, his positioning moves across the pages to show his journey is continuing.
Some of the pages in this book are framed which gives us a sense of suspense and wanting us as the readers to read more to find out what happens next...
Along 'Eddy's' journey he comes across a teddy bear sat in the forest but is much larger in size compared to 'Eddy'. From 'Eddy's' response we can see that he is unsure of whether this teddy is his or not. As 'Eddy' tries to work out what is going on a large brown bear comes into the story, this bear fills up the whole left side page of a double page spread picture to show power over the forest. Whilst holding a really tiny teddy identical to the teddy that 'Eddy' found earlier on in the book.
Further on in the book the bear holding the small teddy bear looks down on 'Eddy' hiding behind the larger teddy bear. For the reader this shows that 'Eddy' is feeling scared because the big bear is looking down at him. Demonstrating the bear's power that he has over 'Eddy' in the forest.
It turns out that 'Eddy' had found the bear's teddy and the bear had found 'Eddy's teddy'.
Once 'Eddy' and the bear swapped their teddy, it shows on a double page spread the bear running back and 'Eddy' running forward to continue his journey to where it leads next. Showing them going in the opposite direction from each other. Which as a reader shows that they may be scared of each other, this is demonstrated through the open mouthed facial expression that both the bear and 'Eddy' are showing.
Right at the end of the story the big bear and his teddy are in bed on the left side of the page and on the right hand side of the page 'Eddy' and his teddy bear are in bed. Both the bear and 'Eddy' appear to look scared but the bear is made to look larger in size compared to 'Eddy' to possible continue to show his power which mas been maintained throughout the book.

[Daniel Rodd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book about a boy who lost his teddy and a bear who lost his teddy. Its a lovely book containing rhyming couplets. Could be a good book to read to children.

[Nickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this story! So simple but effective! Fun to read and great to listen to! Would make a great story bag with props this is a must have book for any nursery teacher’s toolkit!

[CATastrophe]

This is a story I read as a kid. I don’t know how to rate it, since I haven’t read it since. But the memory of its existence has lived on in my mind.

[Tristen Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love a good rhyming book? I read this to my Kindergarteners today and they loved it. When we we’re done reading, We had a fun discussion about our favorite stuffed friends.

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of three enjoyable rhyming stories for young children. Where's My Teddy is a hilarious, not-very-scary adventure fantasy about young Eddie, who meets a gigantic bear in the woods. They have each lost their teddy bears (one small, one huge), and find each other's. When they see one other, each snatches his own teddy in consternation, and they pelt homeward. In It's the Bear, Eddie's mom suggests a woodland picnic, but Eddie is afraid to go. Mom, not believing him about the bear, leaves him with the picnic while she goes to fetch the blueberry pie. In her absence the giant bear discovers the picnic. While Eddie hides in the basket, the bear devours the picnic and has just discovered Eddie when Mom returns with the pie. Mom and Eddie run, while the bear enjoys the pie. Finally, in My Friend Bear Eddie wanders lonely in the same woods, wishing his teddy could talk to him. He finds the bear's giant teddy and, hearing the bear approaching, hides behind it. The bear wishes aloud that his teddy could talk, Eddie introduces himself, and the two become friends.

The stories are told in rhyming verse whose rhythmic cadence will please the youngest listeners, while the humor and drama will appeal to slightly older readers. They are pleasingly illustrated in watercolor, crayon, and pencil. While this book will never win a poetry award, it's a sure winner for any child who will enjoy the slightly scary but ultimately comforting idea of making friends with a cartoon bear.

[Jubeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Where’s My Teddy?’, by Jez Alborough.

The story is about a little boy, Eddy who has lost his teddy, Freddy. So off he goes to the woods to find him. The woods are dark and quite scary and to little Eddy's surprise, he bumps in another teddy, but this one is far too large to ‘huddle and cuddle’ and far too big to fit into his bed! Suddenly out came a gigantic bear stomping towards him with his little teddy. ‘A BEAR’ screamed Eddy, ‘A BOY’ screamed the bear, and they both run away from each other, through the dark woods, back to their homes and into their beds with their teddies.

The book is ideal to read to children in KS1 and the early years. The illustrations are simple and clear, very easy to read. The font is large and uses a lot of expression and rhyme, both which would greatly appeal to both teachers and children as well as those that are auditory learners when reading. Teachers could easily use this book to read to children, its light humour is an added bonus. I particularly liked how the ‘gigantic’ bear is afraid of the little boy, one could say it challenges character stereotypes. A good read indeed!

[Zofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lost teddy bear is a common occurrence for children, especially right before bed, which is why this book keeps the children engaged as they can relate to the story. The children find it very amusing that the huge bear is just as scared of the boy as the boy is scared of the bear.