A big thank you to Little Door Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for this book.

Grizzly Ben
Alan Dapré and Alex Ayliffe
Little Door Books

Ben is grizzly bear mad, so much so that he asks for one for his birthday. That of course is not what he finds in the large parcel that awaits in his bedroom.

Less than impressed with his ursine gift, Ben sets about training Cuddly to be a Grizzly Bear. Things however don’t quite go as intended. The honey-eating lesson,

fishing demonstration and tree climbing certainly produce transformations, just not to Cuddly. He’s left stuck up a tree while, finding it all too much to bear, Grizzly Ben stomps angrily around in the garden till he falls fast asleep from exhaustion.

When he wakes, Grizzly Ben spies something very alarming.

What he needs at that moment is a warm. cosy BIG HUG from a certain cuddly toy. Could such a hug perhaps work another transformation?

The cleverly constructed tale, full of humour and a fair amount of havoc, is complemented by Alex Ayliffe’s wonderfully expressive scenes; she clearly had great fun creating them and I love the vibrancy of her colour palette and her inclusion of the additional characters who silently involve themselves in the action throughout the story. It’s one that offers lots of opportunities for audience participation of the roaring, stomping kind, so prepare yourself for a lively session when you share this with young children.

Don’t forget to check out the posts of the other blog tour participants.