The Dancing Bear: Complete & Unabridged [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Michael Morpurgo (Author), Sir Ian McKellen (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 1994

When Roxanne befriends an abandoned bear cub, he becomes the pride of the tiny mountain village. However, the arrival of a glamorous film crew promises changes for everyone. This cassette is also available as a book and cassette pack.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Readers of Morpurgo's Waiting for Anya (1990), which also featured an orphaned bear cub, may feel this novella is set in the same tiny, sheepherding village in the French Pyrenees. Roxanne, a sweet girl who sings like an angel, adopts a gentle abandoned cub that adores her. Years later, when a famous pop singer and his entourage arrive to make a music video based on ``The Pied Piper of Hamelin,'' Roxanne is given a starring role; she is soon charmed away to a life of fame and fortune, leaving her beloved bear behind. The morning after her departure, the bear is found dead, upright in his cage as if staring after Roxanne. This is an affecting story, certainly, but the bear's sudden death is melodramatic, and Roxanne is such a sympathetic character that her sudden neglect of home ties is scarcely credible. However, the Pied Piper theme is thoroughly developed, and the misty black- and-white drawings echo the pervasive melancholy of the text. (Fiction. 9-12) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

It's rare to find a story that combines so successfully a contemporary plot and modern morality with a feel for legend and fairy tale. She Magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Collins Audio (September 5, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0001006053
• ISBN-13: 978-0001006058
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The stupendous bear cub, November 10, 2010

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Dancing Bear (Paperback)

Starts high on top of the mountins,an abandoned bear cub is adopted by a lonley orphan child.Soon they are inseparable-happily&safe,until the arrival of a glamourous film crew who needed a dancing bear... A gentle&deeply moving,told with charactaristic charm by michael mopourgo ,the award-winning&best-selling book. So read on...