A Birthday for Bear: An Early Reader (Bear and Mouse) [Hardcover]

Bonny Becker (Author), Kady MacDonald Denton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2009 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Bear and Mouse

Can a relentlessly cheery Mouse wear down a party-pooping Bear? The unlikely pair are back in a droll, utterly charming tale that early readers will celebrate.

Bear does not like birthdays. He doesn’t like parties or balloons, cards or candles. In fact, Bear does not like anything to do with birthdays at all. He would much rather spend his birthday alone cleaning his house, but Mouse, small and gray and bright-eyed, has other ideas. The author and illustrator who created the best-selling picture book A VISITOR FOR BEAR return with another comedy about the curmudgeonly Bear and his eager friend Mouse, this time in an early-reader format.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3—The winning stars of A Visitor for Bear (Candlewick, 2008) make a return engagement, this time in early-reader format. Grumpy old Bear is totally uninterested in celebrating his birthday, but his cheery friend Mouse doggedly dons several comical disguises to trick and cajole him into enjoying the festive trappings of a party invitation, balloons, and a present. It is all to no avail, until Mouse leaves a beautiful homemade cake on Bear's doorstep; it's hard for him to ignore his favorite flavor and the fact that no one has ever made him a cake before. Mouse, hiding in the cake, brings back the balloons, the party hats, and the gift, and Bear's birthday is celebrated, at last, in fine and joyful style. Whimsical full-color ink and watercolor illustrations hilariously depict the yin and yang of enormous, cantankerous Bear and tiny, merry Mouse. A sprinkling of colorful, out-of-the-ordinary vocabulary words and phrases adds welcome spice to the narrative. Fluent early readers will be pulled into this title by the appeal of its universal subject, entertaining characters, and the satisfying story with just the right amount of tension unfolding in four short chapters.—Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT END

About the Author

Bonny Becker is the author of a number of award-winning picture books and middle-grade novels. She lives in Seattle.

Kady MacDonald Denton is the illustrator of TWO HOMES by Claire Masurel and A CHILD'S TREASURY OF NURSERY RHYMES. She lives in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763637467
• ISBN-13: 978-0763637460
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.4 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review from www.firrkids.com, October 23, 2009

By 

www.firrkids.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Birthday for Bear: An Early Reader (Bear and Mouse) (Hardcover)

I very much loved A Visitor for Bear, which deservedly received a fair amount of national attention (list of awards here) when it was published last year. This is a gem of a story that details how a mouse chock full of cheery persistence wears down a curmudgeonly bear. If this is the first you have heard of this comedic duo, listen to the story on NPR here.

When you find a book as delightful as this, it is always a thrill to hear of a sequel being released. I am tickled pink to see the ever grumpy bear and tenacious mouse make a reappearance. Mouse is delighted to help celebrate his friend's birthday, but Bear is much less enthusiastic - downright rude actually.

Mouse turns up bearing a nicely decorated card and Bear actually lies about it being his birthday! He tells Mouse in no uncertain terms that he does not like birthdays, he does not like birthday cards and he most certainly will NOT be having a birthday party! Then he unceremoniously sweeps him from the house. Bear thinks he has made himself quite clear, but we know how Mouse can be . . .

Sure enough, Mouse returns wearing his trademark grin, masquerading as a balloon bearing deliveryman, a posting with a birthday greeting and finally as Santa Claus carrying a very large package. Each time Bear is wise to his tricks, seeing through each disguise to boot Mouse from the house.

Bear is getting just a tiny bit worn down by Mouse's antics and begins to wonder what sort of present could be in that large box. Just then the doorbell rings, revealing one large chocolate cake. Bear glares and peeks into the bushes, but there is no Mouse in sight. As Bear swipes one sweet pawful of chocolate cake - TA-DA - Mouse erupts from the cake. Just as he sweet talked his way into this friendship in the first book, he persuades Bear to celebrate his birthday with a cake, balloons and a wonderful gift.

Mouse is very persistent and Bear is very resistant. The fun is what happens when they meet in the middle. I love watching these two face off - you can practically see the wheels turning in Mouse's head and the waves of frustration coming from Bear. This unlikely pair combine to become a huge hit which will have readers giggling out loud!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Chapter" book, December 29, 2009

By 

B. Denton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Birthday for Bear: An Early Reader (Bear and Mouse) (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this sequel, but since I was ordering it and not actually handling it in a bookstore, I didn't realize that the format is an early reader book with chapters. Not a big deal, since it's still a great read-aloud story, but I was buying it for a gift and probably would have chosen a different picture book if I had known!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another special "Bear" book, November 28, 2009

By 

M. Neal (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Birthday for Bear: An Early Reader (Bear and Mouse) (Hardcover)

What a delightful story with equally delightful illustrations! A Birthday for Bear is a wonderful story about a curmudgenly bear, reluctant to celebrate his birthday and his cheerful, devoted friend, Mouse, who will stop at nothing to celebrate his friend's birthday. The story is sweet and engages my preschooler on many levels. It invites discussions of what it means to be a friend, to give to other people and why our friends may feel differently than we do. We read the book often and it never ceases to delight.