Customer Reviews

Goodbye House (Moonbear Books)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The plot of _Goodbye House_: Baby Bear and his parents have packed up the moving van. Baby Bear realizes he has forgotten something, so Baby Bear, Mama Bear, and Papa Bear venture back inside.

But the house is empty! Father bear then says, "But what about the memories?" Papa then carries baby bear around the house, and they say goodbye to each room, to the walls and ceilings, and in the back yard they say goodbye to the fence, and other objects.

After they leave the house and lock the front door, they get back in the moving van and drive away. Baby bear exclaims that he realizes he forgot to say 'goodbye.'

It's a touching book, and it's easy to animate your voice a little bit to make the book funny and playful.

I know you're thinking there's not much to the plot, but my 2 year old son (he was 20 months when we first started reading this book) just LOVES it. When I tell it, I give papa bear's voice a really rough edge, a deep sound, and a New York accent. My son now joins in with me when I bust out with "What about the memories" like an actor in a gangster film. He roars with laughter. And when we're done reading the book, he usually wants me to read it one more time.

I heartily recommend _Goodbye House_ to any families with toddlers, 18 months to 3 years. I also recommend it to any families with children aged 18 months to 5 years who are moving to a new house.

The paperback version is SO inexpensive. For a few dollars more you can add this to your amazon book order. You won't be disappointed.

ken32.

When we planned our cross country move I purchased several children's books that dealt with the subject to read to my two children. This was our favorite. It is a heart warming story about saying goodbye to the house but not to the happy memories. We even walked around our empty house after the moving van had left to say goodbye just as the bear family does in Goodbye House. I am filled with happy memories of our old home every time I read it.

The little bear says goodbye to his old house. But the book is about an ENDING in life, and doesn't talk about the BEGINNING of what's to come. This book is sad, I think.

I absolutely agree with the reviews here, with one caveat. This is a great book, but it really only deserves Five Stars when it comes to a specific application: It is a book for children who are going to be moving.

If you are not moving, it just is not as poignant... at least not to my kid's (3 and 5).

Five Stars if you are going to be moving. Three Stars as a regular read.

This book is perfect for kids who are old enough to not want to move (even when you are moving to a better, bigger house). After reading it, our son went into each room of our house and said goodbye to all of them. It was so bittersweet. We talked about what we were going to miss about the house, and some things that had happened there (like his brother being born in the guest room!). We also took pictures of the house in each room, and front and back outside, to help keep memories of our time there alive for him. I believe this book helped him to feel just a wee bit in control.

My son was two when we first read this book-- we were moving from the only home he had ever known-- and we bought it when we moved again a year and a half later. It's become part of our family's moving ritual!

This book lets you teach 43 vowel-spellings using 177 vocabulary words.