Bartie Bristle and other stories
Julie Tatchell & Amanda Middleditch, illustrated by Elke Boschinger
Walker Books

The six charming read aloud tales in this collection are an exciting venture for Julie and Amanda aka the Teddybear Ladies.

In common with the other bears, Bartie Bristle – we learn how he got this name in the first story – has a special magical thread of kindness stitched into him by Mrs T and Rose.
The second story features a lost bear who remains in the shop window and is fed sticky treats until she’s claimed by her owner

The biggest bear in the shop is Sanderson; he’s gentle, wise and extremely helpful. He becomes the school’s ‘Reading Bear’ a role he loves on account of all the books in the school library.

Sanderson plays a vital part in the fourth story too: he explains the importance of bees to the other bears after one buzzes into the shop on a very hot day.

Story five sees Bartie accompanied by Tom Boot (so called as he was fashioned out of a child’s boot) setting out on an adventure wherein they meet the womins. These creatures send the adventurers flying onto the floor – it’s a good thing bears never hold grudges. A very sticky adventure it turns out to be, especially for the womin called Sparkle; he gets stuck in some honey that had leaked from Bartie’s bag. All ends well however, with a friendship being formed between the womins and the bears.

Dear Old Albert is the title of the sixth story. Albert being the name of a bear that arrives in the post in a very sorry state. He requires a lot of work and so stays a long time at the shop. During that time he regales the others with stories about his long life, they become very fond of him and tell Mrs T they’d like him to stay forever. What will her decision be?

With its gorgeous mixed media illustrations by Elke Boschinger this would make a wonderful gift for teddy bear lovers especially.