Old Bear’s Bedtime Stories
Jane Hissey
Scribblers
I’ve long been a fan of Jane Hissey’s soft toy stories whose characters are based on toys belonging to her family and friends, so I was thrilled to see this new collection of some twenty short stories featuring Old Bear and his pals, Duck, Rabbit, Bramwell Brown,

Barnaby, Jolly Tall and Ruff, to name just a few of the cast of characters herein, some of whom I’m meeting for the first time.
With autumnal stories including one about Freddie Teddy’s attempts at collecting blackberries, and another wherein Peter Bear makes the ‘most unfrightening’ pumpkin face ever’,

Christmas tales, a seaside story, a rainy day one and a summery finale in which Old Bear, Little Bear, Bramwell and Jolly, not to mention Duck, Ruff, Rabbit and Zebra enact their very own version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

For me these warm-hearted stories are the children’s picture book equivalent of comfort food – something to snuggle up with and share on a chilly day. Delicious!

The Snow Beast
Chris Judge
Andersen Press
The Beast returns for a third adventure and it has a decidedly chilly feel to it. Snow has fallen in the village and the Beast is set to help the villagers with a celebratory festival. But, there’s a distinct lack of tools: every single one has been stolen and chief suspect is none other than the abominable Snow Beast. Off sets the Beast to track down the thief and retrieve the tools.
Following some rather large, beastly footprints he goes deeper into the snow only to find he’s in it up to his nose and completely stuck. There’s only one solution – to dig himself out and that he does only to find himself face to face with …

and the tool-thief is certainly not going to stop and pass the time of day.
Enlisting assistance from re-enforcements of the human variety, there’s only one way to catch up with the robber but suddenly the Beast finds himself up to his nose in snow once again. Help comes from a most unlikely source and one good turn leads to another …
But even then our hero just doesn’t know when to take things slowly and his re-entry into the village is something of a crash landing …

There’s a vibrancy about Chris Judge’s illustrations that will bring a warming cheer to wintry reading of this amusing story about determination and finding friends in unlikely situations.

 

Use your local bookshop    

Brilliant event: Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition, Waterstones, Piccadilly 23rd-29th October