Social Skills

Bland, Nick. (2009). The Very Cranky Bear. Toronto, Ontario: Scholastic Canada Ltd.


ISBN 978-0-545-98614-4

It was raining in the Jingle Jangle Jungle and four friends, Moose, Lion, Zebra, and Sheep were looking for a place to play and stay dry from the rain. They thought they have found the perfect place until they encounter a VERY CRANKY BEAR! The four friends decided they would each give Bear something special to cheer him up - some fantastic stripes from Zebra, a pair of marvelous antlers from Moose, and a golden mane from Lion, and as for Sheep, well, Sheep is just plain. Moose, Lion, and Zebra thought that would cheer Bear up but instead, he was even CRANKIER then ever! What Bear really wanted was just a good night sleep, so after knowing what Bear really wanted, Sheep decided to help him too. She found a clipper and clipped off half of her wool, stuffed them in a cotton bag to make a pillow and gave it to Bear, and with the lovely pillow, Bear was able to fall fast asleep and all the other friends can play and stay out of the rain. Sheep might be plain; she was the one who save the day.

Sometimes, children do not understand that what they like most do not necessarily means that everyone else would like it as much as they do. This book would be a fantastic book to share with children and teach them although sharing is a nice thing to do; sometimes it's important to listen to what other people have in mind.

The illustrations are very appropriate. The way the author (which is also the illustrator) place the pictures and the characters in each page is very clever; it is as though the pictures are different senses in a movie. The picture in the front of the picture set the tone of the story and some what give away what is coming in the story. So if you are planning to use this book and want to have your children guess what is coming next, you might want to save the cover for last.

Provocations:

I would photocopy and magnify the cranky bear in the cover and place it on a felt board or bulletin board and let the children wonder why the bear looks so cranky. Then the next day, I would put out another picture, this time the cranky bear with all the things the other animals have added onto him and again, let the children wonder what is making the bear so cranky. Then on the same day or the next day, I would read the story with the cover of the book covered up.

Presentations:

1) Reading the book with the cover covered up and stop and pause here and there and wonder with children what is happening in the story and what could they do to solve the problem? Ask them if they know why is bear so cranky?

2) Felt Story - I would simply draw/photocopy the animals out myself and laminate them and use them with a felt board. Be sure to also make the pieces for the antlers, stripes and mane for the cranky bear.

3) Audience Participation – make different masks for different animals and have the children act out the story together. To make it even more interesting, teacher could also bring in different props for the antlers, mane and stripes.

Extensions:

1) Have a discussion with children and ask question such as "how would you feel if someone (your friends, mommy, daddy etc) made you do something you don't like?" Ask them how would they feel if they were trying to express themselves at home or at school but no one listen?

2) Photocopy (or draw) the cranky bear from the book, provide different arts and crafts material such as ribbons, paints, felt pens, pom-poms, etc and have children sit and create their very own cranky bear.

3) Making rice pack – prepare some small cotton bags with a small opening and some rice, have children sit down and scoop some rice into the cotton bags. Teachers then can either sew the bag up or use some fabric adhesive tape to seal the opening. The rice bag could be use as a ice pack (if it was put in the freezer) or a heat pack (if put in the microwave for approx 1-2mins) for relaxation.