PB14:14 Day 3: The Bears in the Bed and the Great Big Storm

Today is day 3 of the Picture Book 14:14. Here is my book for today.

Title:  The Bears in the Bed and the Great Big Storm
Author:  Paul Bright
Illustrator:  Jane Chapman
Publisher:  Little Tiger Press
Year: 2008
Word count: approx. 250
Top 10 Element: theme

How the wind blew! That is the first sentence of the book, setting the theme of a stormy night. The illustration shows mama and papa bear sound asleep. But the wind howls loudly and soon "...Bear felt a tugging at his blanket. He opened one eye. There was baby bear."

Oh, yes. I remember it well. Those scary sounds. The frightening lightning. The creepy shadows. As a young child, I hated nighttime storms. Most kids do. And in this book, so does baby bear. Then Papa bear realizes baby is right. Those shadows DO look like monster horns. Soon everyone is awake--Bear, Mrs. Bear, Young Bear, Little Bear, and Baby Bear.

Then, as Bears goes to see what is tapping at the door, the wind blows the door wide open. The candle goes out. All is dark until the lightning flashes again and reveals something eery.

Papa dives straight under the bed. Luckily it is just a moose. Moose has lost his house to the terrible storm and needs a safe place to sleep. The children laugh. "What a scaredy-bear you are!" they said. "Don't you know...there's no such thing as monsters!"

This book on the theme of sleeping and storms and imagined monsters is one most any child can relate to. The addition of the moose makes the ending a bit more fun than the shadow just being a tree (which has been used often in the past.) This book also comes as a set with a cd which has the complete story with original music and sound effects. It also has page-turn pings to encourage young readers to join in. Unfortunately, I didn't check the cd out of the library but I am it would be a treat for children who have already had the book read to them.

Here is the link for Day 3 posts.

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