Wilson, Karma. (2004). Bear stays Up for Christmas.
ISBN: 0-689-85278-9
As many other books in this author’s series, this book has also been a Best-seller. It has received numerous awards and is highly commended for children ages three to seven years old. The story begins with the snoring bear being woken from hibernation, by his friends: the Mouse, the Hare, the Badger, the Gopher, the Mole, the Raven, and the Wren. It is the day before Christmas and his friends want Bear to be part of the Christmas preparation, so they go through great lengths to keep Bear awake while they find a Christmas tree, bake cakes, hang stockings, and hum Christmas songs. At night, as the friends slowly doze off in the lair and the Bear stays up to wrap presents for them, Santa Clause quietly pays a visit to fill their stockings. At dawn, when Christmas arrives, Bear’s friends awaken to the lovely surprise of gifts from both their friend and from Santa. The story ends with the friends slipping away quietly as the Bear goes back to sleep, covered warmly under a quilt his size, a Christmas gift he received from Santa.
For me, the most appealing feature of this book is that it is written in rhyming couplets. Each phrase is not more than one couplet long, making it easy to introduce young children to rhyming words and poetry. In this short story, the book has a gopher, badger, mole and wren, animals which children of young age group are not very familiar with; therefore, it is a good book to use to expand children’s knowledge of different animals that live in the forest. Short descriptive words have also been introduced in the text for enhancing vocabulary. Children love books that tell stories about bears and hares, thus the cover of the book highlights this interest provoking factor. The story and the graphics in the book are very appealing. It would excite many children to have the book read to them repeatedly. The illustrations are large and in acrylic paint, gripping children’s attention. The essence of friendship and giving is well portrayed in this book, along with familiarizing the children with the activities take place leading up to and during Christmas.
The picture of the bear sleeping in his lair and surrounded in snow, would be enlarged and laminated, to be used as a provocation. It would be displayed on a black background wall for the children to be able to identify the season on close observation. A soft mouse toy and a hare toy, representing characters from the story, would be kept on the floor near the picture. This will make the children inquisitive about the connection between the three. The cover of the book would be covered to add further interest and curiosity about what the story may entail. Next, the children would be gathered close and asked thought provoking questions, such as:
1) What do they think the bear is doing?
2) Why is Bear sleeping while the mouse and the hare are awake?
3) What time of the year is it (eg. Summer, when the flowers are all blooming; autumn, when the leaves are all falling; winter, when it is cold; or spring, when leaves start to grow)?
Finally, uncover the book to get them to match their guesses with the animal characters of the story illustrated on the cover. This will now intrigue them to listen intently to the story.
3 Ways of Presenting The Story
Felt Board: This activity will require a felt board and felt pieces representing Bear and his seven friends, Santa, a Christmas tree, a fireplace, some cookies and goodies, a few wrapped presents, and a blanket. The illustrations in the book are user friendly for tracing in order to make the felt pieces. The story has two sections where it can be easily paused in order to encourage the children to discuss and think about the book. First, when Bear stays up while the others are sleeping the children can be asked “Why Bear giggles and grins.” And “When all the gifts are opened, there’s one last surprise. What do they think is the surprise?”
Four Sided Cookie Tin: Watching characters move using magnets, makes story telling an exciting experience. Take a square cookie tin or a tin wastebasket and paint the background in 4 sections to match the sequence of the story. Alternatively, a felt cover of a measured size, stitched/glued together, can also be pulled over the tin. The animals, the Santa, and the Christmas tree pieces can be made using a strong cardboard; colored, sticker paper on one side; and glued on magnet on the other. Glossy colored sticker paper is available in many colors from Urban Source, Vancouver. To move the characters around, use a long stick with a magnet at the end, inside the tin. When narrating the story, the two sections where you stop and discuss with the children can be enhanced by bringing the presents, goodies, and blanket (made of felt) out after they have made many guesses as to what the surprise may be.
Narration: The story introduces many rhyming and action words with every turn of the page. By reading slowly, pausing, and asking the children to act out the scenes as the story progresses, their interest can be peeked. For example, “… snuggled on his floor, Bear sleeps soundly with a great big snore…”, “Dear Bear, GET UP…!”, “He stands with a stretch and a great big sign..” , “… but his friends all frown….” These are all scenes that the class can have a lot of fun acting out.
3 Possible Extensions
Have the children make all the festive Christmas items mentioned in the book: Set up a Christmas tree and decorate it with popcorn strings, bake fruitcake and cookies, cut and decorate stockings made from felt, wrap presents using small used boxes, and sing Christmas songs. Many families have their own traditions when celebrating Christmas, thus the children can be encouraged to share this with their peers, thereby making them aware that there can be different ways of celebrating Christmas.
Dramatic play would be a good idea for children to act out the Christmas message of friendship and giving. Children would act out the characters in the story wearing color capes, brown for the bear, white for the hare, black for the raven, red for Santa, etc. One of the children could be decorated with a string of popcorn and presents all around while others sing Christmas songs. Adding a little humor and animal mimicking would make the story more fun and interesting.
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