Bear Heart
Louise Greig and Hoang Giang
Flying Eye Books

Earnest is a bear, but he’s no ordinary bear. He has a heart that is big and it’s absolutely full of all the things that he loves – a large honeycomb, a blue flower, some salmon, his favourite tree – yet there always seems to be room for just one more thing. That is until he meets something huge. It’s a lion and Earnest can tell by its eyes that it needs a place in someone’s heart. Feeling that his own heart can’t accommodate the lion, Earnest tries asking some of his friends to help. However, none of them can: what will the bear do?
Earnest thinks and then makes a very brave decision. It’s one that rather than giving him a heavy heart, fills it with happiness.

Before the end of this gentle tale, the bear encounters another creature in whose heart, the lion truly belongs. he has another important decision to make and in so doing has learns a very important life lesson: true love sometimes comes from letting go.
Louise Greig’s tender, yet powerful telling is complemented by Hoang Giang’s equally tender scenes of Earnest’s changing emotions as the story unfolds.

This huge hug of a book is one that can be read on many levels and so deserves a place in family collections and in all class collections from the Foundation Stage to KS2.