Five Bears

Five Bears

By Author / Illustrator

Catherine Rayner

Genre

Friendship

Age range(s)

3+

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

ISBN

9781529051278

Format

Hardback

Published

23-06-2022

Synopsis

A gorgeously illustrated book about friendship and looking past differences from the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winner Catherine Rayner.

Bear is walking through the forest, minding his own business when he comes across another bear. The Other bear is different. The two bears wander along, thinking different thoughts, and looking in different directions. Soon the two bears come across another bear and then another bear and eventually find a bear stuck in a tree. The bears realise that perhaps they aren't that different after all and perhaps they could be friends?

Reviews

Jacqueline

Subtitled a tale of friendship, Five Bears is a beautiful book tells the story of a ear, rambling through the woods and meeting other bears. All the bears think they are different from the other bears, but whilst they might look different, they find friendship and help each other.


Simply told with small amounts of text, this is a story that will engage young children and even some older ones! The first thing you notice is the cover, with its gorgeous illustrations of friendly looking bears of all sorts, including a polar bear and a panda. They are so adorable and so beautifully drawn; you just want to pick the book up and look at them. The drawings are so full of character and expression that they tell the story on their own. Catherine Rayner is a former winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and it shows.


This is a gentle, non-threatening story about differences and finding friendship. It also looks at loneliness and how you might not even realise you are lonely until you find that friendship and discover what you have been missing. Thank you to Laura Smythe for sending this copy- I love it so much I will be reluctant to give it away to my local nursery.


Picture book / Reviewed by Jacqueline, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 3+

 

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