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A Friend for Little Bear
Offers a valuable lesson in friendship as Little Bear, alone on an island, is befriended by a wooden horse but, because of Little Bear's desire to have more, he is accidentally bumped off the island and almost lost forever.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
4 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Harry Horse
86 books13 followersHarry Horse wrote and illustrated many books for children, including the popular Little Rabbit picture books and the novels The Last Polar Bears, The Last Castaways, The Last Cowboys, and The Last Gold Diggers. He was also a political cartoonist for several national newspapers in the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 22, 2012
A beautifully illustrated and simple story of a bear who is alone on a desert island. With nothing to play with he suddenly finds a stick that he uses to draw pictures in the sand. Later he finds a bottle to play with, but soon declares that what he really needs is a cup.
A while later the bear pulls a wooden horse from the sea and the little bear and the wooden horse become friends. Soon the friendship is tested as the bear becomes obsessed with collecting the things he finds floating in the sea and soon there is no space left on the island.
At the same time that the bear finds a cup the horse falls into the sea and floats away. For a short time the bear is overjoyed with his new 'find' only to become utterly heartbroken when he realises that he has just lost the only thing he really needs.
A good story for Reception and Year 1 for looking at the importance and value of friendship over material objects and could be used with older children to explore the concepts of pollution and recycling and the nature of rubbish.
A while later the bear pulls a wooden horse from the sea and the little bear and the wooden horse become friends. Soon the friendship is tested as the bear becomes obsessed with collecting the things he finds floating in the sea and soon there is no space left on the island.
At the same time that the bear finds a cup the horse falls into the sea and floats away. For a short time the bear is overjoyed with his new 'find' only to become utterly heartbroken when he realises that he has just lost the only thing he really needs.
A good story for Reception and Year 1 for looking at the importance and value of friendship over material objects and could be used with older children to explore the concepts of pollution and recycling and the nature of rubbish.
November 28, 2015
One of my favorites! A great book that shows how friendship outweighs the desire for things.
August 3, 2019
Little Bear overloads his island with clutter until there is no more room for his friend horse.
Little Bear lives on a tiny tropical island, and he fishes things that float by out of the ocean, one of which is a wooden horse who becomes a treasured friend. One day an enormous mass of debris floats by, and Little Bear cannot resist gathering as many items as possible, which turns his island into a jumble of random stuff. Forced to perch on top of a pile, horse is thrown into the ocean when it shifts.
Little Bear is so preoccupied with his stuff that he fails to notice when horse falls overboard and washes away. When he finally realizes that his friend is gone, he understands the ramifications of his clutter. Overcome with remorse, Little Bear throws all the junk back into the ocean and then sits down to cry. As luck would have it, the ocean current changes, carrying the wooden horse back to Little Bear's island, and the two friends are reunited.
Interestingly, this is a book about clutter and hoarding for children. Little Bear accumulates stuff for which he has no immediate use with the rationale "I don't know what these things are, but I need them all the same." A key difference between people who struggle with clutter and people who don't is that people who struggle with clutter keep things they don't know what to do with and people who don't struggle with clutter get rid of things they don't know what to do with. Little Bear falls into the mental trap of thinking that he should acquire and keep things that he might be able to use for something someday, ignoring the limitations of his space. As a result, he loses his friend and transforms his home into a trash heap.
This story serves as a warning to young readers that large amounts of clutter negatively affects one's life and damages relationships. It stresses the importance of valuing people over things. It also illustrates the concept too much of a good thing.
Little Bear lives on a tiny tropical island, and he fishes things that float by out of the ocean, one of which is a wooden horse who becomes a treasured friend. One day an enormous mass of debris floats by, and Little Bear cannot resist gathering as many items as possible, which turns his island into a jumble of random stuff. Forced to perch on top of a pile, horse is thrown into the ocean when it shifts.
Little Bear is so preoccupied with his stuff that he fails to notice when horse falls overboard and washes away. When he finally realizes that his friend is gone, he understands the ramifications of his clutter. Overcome with remorse, Little Bear throws all the junk back into the ocean and then sits down to cry. As luck would have it, the ocean current changes, carrying the wooden horse back to Little Bear's island, and the two friends are reunited.
Interestingly, this is a book about clutter and hoarding for children. Little Bear accumulates stuff for which he has no immediate use with the rationale "I don't know what these things are, but I need them all the same." A key difference between people who struggle with clutter and people who don't is that people who struggle with clutter keep things they don't know what to do with and people who don't struggle with clutter get rid of things they don't know what to do with. Little Bear falls into the mental trap of thinking that he should acquire and keep things that he might be able to use for something someday, ignoring the limitations of his space. As a result, he loses his friend and transforms his home into a trash heap.
This story serves as a warning to young readers that large amounts of clutter negatively affects one's life and damages relationships. It stresses the importance of valuing people over things. It also illustrates the concept too much of a good thing.
February 8, 2020
This was adorable.
December 5, 2020
A lovely and beautifully illustrated book about the importance of friendship.
June 12, 2023
Lovely story. our daughter, who is 22months loves this book.
November 9, 2013
I was a little weirded out, and I usually enjoy children's books. The idea of a stuffed teddy bear living alone on a desert island? And from what disastrous shipwreck did all this stuff to entertain Little Bear come?
Still, the paintings are enchanting, the moral sweet, and the details of Little Bear's incessant games enchanting. Nothing spectacular to me; maybe I just don't understand the kids.
Still, the paintings are enchanting, the moral sweet, and the details of Little Bear's incessant games enchanting. Nothing spectacular to me; maybe I just don't understand the kids.
August 9, 2009
OMG Grandma this book is killer!!! Don't ya just love it?
August 21, 2011
A nice children's book that tries to show how importent friendship realy is.
December 5, 2011
Nice, simple but lovely picture book
June 23, 2012
A toy bear on a tiny island learns that of all the things he has pulled from the sea, the wooden horse, who is his friend, is the most important.
January 27, 2014
Awwwwwwwwww
March 20, 2017
realy nice short book about a bear on a island. beautiful illustrations
May 10, 2011
This is a fabulous book for young children. My niece loves it!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews