Scare a Bear

by Kathy-jo Wargin, John Bendall-Brunello (Illustrator)

Do you know how to scare a bear? Would you bang pots and pans? Would you rattle some cans? Would you shout? Would you yell? Would you ring a loud bell? Do you know how to scare a bear? How would you scare a bear out of your cabin? Or out of your fishing boat? How about away from your campfire? And what if he climbed in your bunk? Would the bed go kerplunk? From the author-illustrator team who created Moose on the Loose comes yet another example of the high jinks and hilarity that happens when wildlife wanders indoors. In this contest of wills, who will win? And once again, by story’s end, young campers will know exactly how to scare a bear!

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Humor, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2010

About the author

Kathy-jo Wargin is the bestselling author of more than fifty books for adults and children. With more than 1.2 million copies sold, she writes across genres and age-groups, and has earned national recognition for award–winning titles such as Michigan’s Official State Children’s Book The Legend of Sleeping Bear, the International Reading Association’s Children's Choice Award Winner The Legend of the Loon, the Bank Street College of Education Best Book Listee The Voyageur’s Paddle, the IRA Teacher's Choice Award Winner Win One for the Gipper, and many more.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's a nice rhyming book that offers many suggestions, both practical and silly, for ridding your campsite of an ursine menace.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scare A Bear sounds like a dumb nature organization specializing in the art of trick psychology (read: mind rape) of dangerous wildlife. But no, it's just a kids book specializing in the art of said trick psychology. It's cute, a poem that asks the question what if a bear ISN'T scared of you, what would YOU do? There's no afterwards on the consequences of scaring a bear, which in real life has been known to have...ummm unpleasant consequences to campgrounds and other humans... unless I've been watching too many environmental horror films with nasty bears. Anyway, don't let me stop you from taking pleasure in this book.
Three stars
Grin and BEAR IT! It's a cool book!

[Emily Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you scare a bear? This book technically does tell you in the end, but it takes you on quite the journey of possible things that the bear may want to do -- swim with you, fish in your boat, sleep overnight, and so on. So the title is a bit lost on me. The rhyming pattern is Seuss-esque and is better than a lot of rhyming patterns I've seen in picture books. I think I'm in the minority in my dislike of this book. It wasn't horrible, thus the 3-star rating, but I wasn't impressed and it was honestly an odd book to me.

[Jacquelyn Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute

Cute and silly children's story. I would recommend it to everyone. It's great for beginning readers and bedtime stories. It's one you wont mind reading over and over.

[Emily Carlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really cute book. I had a lot of fun reading it with a mixed ages group of pre-k through 2nd grade.

[Megan Ewald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about a group of kids that try to scare a bear away. With vivid illustrations, the book helps you to get an idea for how to scare the bear. The plot goes through a day and night with ways to try and scare the bear but it does not work until the very end when he falls asleep and the group of students and sheriff shout boo. There is also great rhyming throughout this book on every page.

I loved reading this book and sharing it with the students. The rhyming and illustrations really bring this book to life and allow the reader to understand the plot of this book. I really liked that it went through a normal day with different ways to scare the bear. This is a great book to read to students or have on the bookshelf for students to pick up and read.

[Leeann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhyme scheme reminds me of Dr. Seuss. Would be good for a bear or camping storytime, especially if you ask the kids to help you scare him away at the end!

[Bridget R. Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

How exactly do you scare a bear? You're about to find out. But what if your bear is un-scare-able? Well, we'll talk about that, too.

What I thought: Another hit from Wargin. I loved her last book Moose on the Loose and I'm not disappointed with this new one. The situations that the kids and bear find themselves in are laughable. This format Wargin uses is just as effective as Numeroff's circular stories (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Moose a Muffin, etc.) The illustrations are lovely--soft colors and so well drawn. I can't wait to see what Wargin comes up with next.

Story Time Theme: Bears

[Shira Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book. It is a great text for young children to listen for rhyming words. I also have to point out that this book contains a lot of questions which would also be helpful in teaching young children about punctuation.

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 5-year-old enjoyed this book. It basically just asks a lot of questions about a bear and what would you do in certain situations. It was a good book to talk about why you would or would not make a certain decision.

[Sunnyvale Librarian]

How do you scare a bear? Five friends explore many possibilities (some very silly) but in the end the answer is quite simple. Delightful illustrations and the outrageous antics of bear and kids will make preschoolers giggle.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has lots of fun illustrations; I especially like the pages with something (or someone-like a bear hiding or sneaking or peeking!) in the background. The text is superb for rhyming and has a great read aloud rhythm.

[Alanna Burris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fun book! The rhyming also makes it simple yet fun to read. It's a great way to introduce rhyming and also a great book to have a discussion with. Students could brain storm their own ways to scare a bear. The illustrations are great and full of detail.

[Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

goes on a bit too long with the refrain but still cute esp for fans of bear picture books and rhyme.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, rhyming read. Almost all the text consists of questions to the reader, so beware in a storytime, you might get overwhelmed with responses. This would be fun for one on one reading, however.

[SBPL Storytime · Rating 4 out of 5]

great lots of rhyming

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sing-song rhyming title about how to scare a bear *who doesn't scare*...preschoolers will enjoy the adventure with the fun ending!

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

With lots of rhyming and silly situations, this would make a terrific read-aloud for story time.

[Ilene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kathy Jo Wargin

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute. Humorous ways of how kids deal with scaring off a bear at camp.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendous humorous & reparative refrains makes this a great choice for preschool storytimes.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rhyming advice on how to scare a bear, even a persistent one!

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a fun book and a fun concept for young readers. How would you scare a bear? Also the rhythm of the book is great!

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, rhyming book with an outdoors/camping theme.

Veg*n families note: There is a scene of the bear and boy fishing from a boat.

[Dewey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute rhyming story about how you would scare a bear if it came to your summer camp. I definitely want to use this for a camping-themed storytime.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used in Storytime 7/13/2016