Happy Birthday Old Bear by Jane Hissey
| Happy Birthday Old Bear by Jane Hissey | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Morris
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| Summary: A wonderful tale of birthdays and surprises, this will delight young and old | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: September 2016 |
| Publisher: Scribblers | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1910706725 | |
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We never need an excuse to celebrate, but when two Bookbag staffers have birthdays within 3 days of each other, and then this title pops through your door, well then it's just perfect.
It's Old Bear's birthday, and so all the other toys are planning something. In fact, lots of somethings: gifts, a cake, a proper celebration. It's wonderful. Elsie the elephant has even made him a present, the talented little thing. But then, as we soon find out, Elsie is good at many things: wrapping presents, baking cakes, blowing up balloons, singing. It's a lovely sunny day, so the toys gather outside but just as they finish setting things up, and just as Old Bear arrives, disaster strikes! Can the toys have a happy ending and find time to finish Old Bear's party?
Old Bear has been going for more than 30 years, and this is a brand new story to celebrate, but with all the old familiar faces. How much of a classic is Old Bear? Well let's just say the office erupted when I produced this one. So many people, it seems, have super fond memories of the gang, memories that have stayed with then for two decades or more. It's easy to see why. The story is beautifully told, with humour and kindness, but the real stand out feature has to be the illustrations. I spent ages gazing at them, struggling to believe that anyone could take a pencil and produce something with so much detail. The toys are so incredibly life like that you can almost feel the softness of Elsie's felt or the glassiness of Little Bear's eyes.
The characters are wonderfully familiar too, whether or not you've come across the books before. I'm sure most households would have a cuddly toy that looks a lot like one of the ones in this book, and it's so comforting and reassuring. They really bring the story to life in the most delightful way.
Books are wonderful birthday presents, and none more so than books about birthdays. This one is perfect, a classic for now and for the future. Highly recommended, I'd like to thank the publishers for sending us a copy to review.
If you're new to Old Bear, then you simply must check out Old Bear Stories and Old Bear's Bedtime Stories.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Happy Birthday Old Bear by Jane Hissey at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Happy Birthday Old Bear by Jane Hissey at Amazon.com.
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