MOONBEAR'S DREAM (Moonbear Books) (Hardcover)

~ (Illustrator) "One day a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch escaped from the zoo and wandered through Bear's yard..." (more)
Key Phrases: Little Bird

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Moonbear and Little Bird think they're dreaming when they see a kangaroo (escaped from the zoo) hopping across the yard, in the ursine hero's latest caper. Ages 2-6. (Sept.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-A book that will please some of Asch's fans while perplexing others. The unlikely sight of a kangaroo hopping past their house convinces Bear and Little Bird that they must be dreaming. When his feathered friend suggests that they wake themselves up, Bear says, "Why not have some fun first?" So, they eat their food stores, make a mess, and go for a swim. In the meantime, a zookeeper comes searching and finds the escaped kangaroo wandering in the disheveled house. Believing she must be responsible for the mess, the zookeeper, depicted as a pig, quickly sets everything straight. Bear and Little Bird return home, happy (but not surprised) to find normalcy restored. They settle down for a nap, exhausted from their "dream" adventures. As always, Asch's illustrations are childlike and charming. Soft colors and rounded shapes emphasize the coziness of Bear's home. Visual jokes include showing the escaped kangaroo through Bear's window as the friends settle down for their (real) nap at the end. Young children will enjoy the opportunity to revisit familiar characters; for some young listeners, however, the question of whether the story is in fact dream or reality may cause confusion. Libraries in which the series is particularly popular may wish to add this title while others will want to wait for the next installment in hopes of a more straightforward and satisfying story.
Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689822448
• ISBN-13: 978-0689822445
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,376,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What is the moral of this story?, January 18, 2005

By	Mitchelle W. Stephenson "Mitchelle the book l... (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Moonbear's Dream (Moonbear Books) (Paperback)

In this story Moonbear and his friend bird see a kangaroo. Upon seeing the animal (who has escaped from the zoo), they decide they are dreaming. They go into their house and wreck it with abandon -- eating their winter supplies of food and breaking things. Then they go for a swim. Meanwhile the zookeeper tracks down the kangaroo and comes upon the house, which has been wrecked, not by the zoo animal, but rather by the bear and the bird. The zookeeper cleans up the mess. Bear and bird then return to face a cleaned up house. Every time I read this book to my child I can't help but think that the message is that actions don't have consequences. That is the opposite lesson I want my 3 year old learning.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but not Moonbear's Best - a review of "Moonbear's Dream", October 22, 2007

By	Pam Tee "Harmless" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This isn't my favorite Moonbear story but my son likes it (he just turned 5). The story begins with the unexpected appearance of a mama kangaroo and her joey in Moonbear's yard. The arrival strikes Moonbear and Little Bird as so odd that they conclude they must be dreaming. This determination then leads them to decide that they ought to have some outlandish 'dream fun'.

Dream-fun in this case means being rather naughty. Moonbear and Little Bird, for example, head for their favorite treats and make pigs of themselves. After which they make a huge mess. They are free to do so, they conclude, because all they will need to do to avoid the consequences is to pinch themselves and wake up.

The attraction of this story is probably the naughtiness and tension created when children begin to wonder what is really going to happen. Will the two friends finally realize that they aren't sleeping and have to face the realty of the mess they've left, or will they somehow be saved from that awful possibility? I won't ruin the fun by telling.

Three Stars. Good Read-aloud. Cute artwork. The story is filled with a few twists and turns that really small fry might not appreciate. In general it's not my favorite Moonbear story as it's a little bit of a stretch plot-wise. However my son likes it and if you have a Moonbear fan at home, you might consider adding it to your shelves.

As to reading level, I can only say that I am a little confused. While searching for the Accelerated Reading designation, I found not one but two numbers offered: the first 1.3, and the second 2.4. I don't know if this means Mr. Asch has two different versions of "Moonbear's Dream" in print or what. But the book we read seemed to me to be at the second grade (2.4) level. There is a middling amount of text and some more sophisticated words such as: escaped, pouch, wandered, probably, believe, scooping, and chuckled.

Pam T~

2.0 out of 5 stars Correlation between this book and crime, April 30, 2008

By	Roloff (Concord, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moonbear's Dream (Moonbear Books) (Paperback)

I just finished reading this book and was appalled by this book's message. You can live a reckless life with disregard for any future consequences and some mystical being (parents, government, welfare checks, generous friends) will come to your rescue. Basically moonbear and his friend bird are lolife degenerates that take no responsibility for their actions, you could say that the people these animals represent in modern society is the prison and welfare classes. The 2 degenerates made multiple decisions just like people today (ex. had children with lolife fathers, smoked crack, junior high dropout) with no regard to future consequences. The rest of society has to clean up and support these bums. Moonbear should have starved in winter because he was so foolish as to eat the honey, bird the little follower to the future gang leader moonbear should have starved as well for following such a fool. I would not recommend this book to read to children unless you want your kids to be government dependant or convicts in the future. The zoo keeper is an enabler he is no different than the parent that gives money to their kid to buy crack, or the person who gives the pan handler their spare change.