Big Bear Hug

Oldland, N. (2009). Big bear hug.

                New Brunswick: Kids Can Press.

ISBN   987-1-55453464X

Big Bear Hug

This is a cute story about a bear that loves everyone and everything in the forest where he lives. There was so much love in him that the way he manifested that love was by hugging; he hugged every animal that crossed his path, big or small he hugged them all. He also hugged trees; he loved trees, all kinds of trees.

One day something unexpected happened something that made him experience an unhappy feeling, a man came in the forest with an axe trying to chop down a tree, the bear gets so angry that he feels like hurting the man, but at the end he decides to do what he does best. And he gave the man a big hug, and the man obviously ran far away from there.

Why would I use this book for three to five-year olds?

I think is a fantastic book, the content is easy to follow and to connect with; the vocabulary is simple and funny, children would definitely be drawn to the book. The pictures are clear, bright and colourful, it represents the forest idea in a simple yet attractive way; the reactions of the animals the bear hug are hilarious. I personally like the colors that were used, the sky so blue the nice little hills and the trees, that’s what I like trees everywhere. It is a good book with a nice message.

Provocations

·       One idea I have is to print the picture or the bear hugging the apple tree, the pear tree and the peach tree and bring one of them in to the class and place it in a strategic area I know the children will see it, and maybe later that day (or even another day) bring another picture with the bear hugging a different tree and see if the children can notice what’s different. And they are going to start wondering, what is the bear doing? Why is he hugging trees?

·       Another idea is to build some background knowledge about what real bears do? what they eat? The book specifically talks about the bear hugging animal that he has been known to eat.

 I’ll have some pictures of animals including the bear and the ones in the book and together with the children try to figure out which animals bears eat, which ones live in the forest where the bear lives.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ways to present the book

·       Felt Story: For the felt story I would have all the characters in the book: bear, rabbit, moose, bird, snake, skunk, the man and the axe, and trees (apple, pear, peach and some pine trees). I already made most of the characters with felt fabric.

 And since what attracted me in the book were the pictures and the whole idea of the forest I’ll have to include the blue skies and some little hills. I’ll probably wonder what the animals are thinking, because they obviously look confused.

·       Puppets(stuffy)also would work, I would have the characters (could use rabbit, moose, skunk only) and create a forest background with fabric (scarves) or a forest picture on the back ground(from a calendar) and some toy trees and recreate the story.

·       Felt characters on sticks(since I have the characters already made it’s just matter of sticking them on to the sticks with tape)

·       Basket presentation, I like the idea of a having a basket covered with a piece of fabric, that contains all the characters in the story; and as I’m telling the story get help from the children to try to figure out what animal is next to be hugged by the bear.

Extensions for learning  

·       Ecosystems: Where the bears live, types of bears. How is our habitat? Emotions: How do you feel when you get angry, how do you deal with it? How you show love?

·       Another bear book: Avery cranky bear.

·       Arts: What kinds of tree are in the place we live? Draw what kind of plants and trees do you see in you habitat?

·       Songs and finger play:

Songs:

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Turn around!
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Touch the ground!
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Do a clap!
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Touch your lap!
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Arms out wide!
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Touch your side!
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Hop on one!
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Your turn is done!  

 Bear
(can be sun to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Big bear, big bear,
Hunting near the trees.
Feasting on the honeycomb
Made by busy bees.
(bzzz, bzzz, bzzz)
Big bear, big bear,
Wading in the lake.
Fish is your favourite dish:
Which one will you take?
(swish, swish, swish)
Big bear, big bear,
Resting in your den.
Sleeping through the winter
Before you're out again.
(zzz, zzz, zzz)

Little Bear
(to the tune of frere jacques)
Are you sleepy, Are you sleepy
Little bear, little bear?
Wintertime is coming,
Wintertime is coming,
Very soon, very soon.
Find a cave, Find a cave,
Little bear, little bear
Wintertime is here,
Wintertime is here,
Go to sleep, go to sleep.
Are you sleepy, Are you sleepy
Little bear, little bear?
You will wake in springtime
In the warm, warm springtime
Little bear, little bear
Time to wake up, Time to wake up
Little bear, little bear
Springtime is here, springtime is here
Wake up now, wake up now!
What is he?
Big paws,
Big black nose,
Stubby tail,
And growl he goes.
What is he?
Well, who knows?
He sleeps all winter
When it snows.

Finger play:

Five little bears were sitting on the ground.
Five little bears made a deep growling sound: Grrrrr!
The first one said,"Let's have a look around."
The second one said, "I feel rather funny!"
The third one said, "I think I smell honey."
The fourth one said, "Shall we climb up the tree?"
The fifth one said, "Look out! There's a bee!"
So the five little bears went back to their play,
And decided to wait till the bees flew away.

Five Little Bears
Five little bears
Heard a loud roar
One ran away
Then there were four!
Four little bears
Climbing up a tree
One slid down
Then there were three!
Three little bears
Deciding what to do
One fell asleep
Then there were two!
Two little bears
Having lots of fun
One went home
Then there was one!
One little bear
Feeling all alone
Ran to his mother
Then there were none!

Poem:

The Black Bear
In the summer, fall, and spring
the black bear sports and has his fling,
but winter sends him straight indoors and there he
snores... and snores... and snores.