Friends for a Day

Friends for a Day

By Author / Illustrator

Neal Layton

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

5+

Publisher

Hachette Children's Group

ISBN

9781444928259

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

05-10-2017

Synopsis

Clever and wonderfully original - a celebration of friendship, kindness and living life to the full with a gentle message about loss, to bring comfort to both children and parents.


A reissue of this award-winning picture book by Neal Layton. Winner of the Nestle Smarties Book Prize Bronze Award.


Bartholomew leads a quiet life. But he is a kindly sort of bear, so when his new friend, the Bug, is in a tremendous hurry to find the bright lights, he decides to help him on his way. Bear soon finds himself in the big city, which is like nothing he's ever known before. But why is Bug in such a hurry?


'A life-affirming story, gloriously illustrated' Julia Eccleshare


'Wonderfully messy, child-friendly drawings against hip, graphic backgrounds' Daily Mail

Reviews

Gail

This is a lovely picture book about friendship and helping one another, as well as delivering a gentle environmental message. Bear spends his days in solitude on a mountainside, wondering what are the bright lights he can see in the distance. Then a bug bumps into him and pleads with him to take it to those lights - the city! The bug is a crane fly and he only has one day to live - there isn't a moment to lose! Bear overcomes many obstacles to get the bug to his destination and the party begins! This is a great story for young children to encourage them to explore the idea of getting out of their comfort zone and enjoying unexpected new experiences. It's also about helping friends, even if we don't know them very well. The facts about bears and crane flies at the back of the book provide some welcome information to help children put the characters into context - and the story could be used around a mini-bugs topic. The story could be taken further with children mapping Bear and Bug's journey down mountains, across rivers and through the swamps, or creating a diary together of a 'day in the life of' a different kind of bug. Picture book / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Gail Lenton.

Suggested Reading Age 5+

 

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