The Bear

My daughter is three and she loves this book. She loves the wonderful pictures, as well as the imaginative story

Briggs has a knack for illustration that is simply awe inspiring. The bear in this book is just so big. Kids love to see such a big bear get into the house. He makes a mess of the bed and the bathroom, he dirties the floor which has to be cleaned up (good introduction to pets for children) and all the while the adults keep missing him. They just cannot manage to catch a glimpse of this huge bear wandering around their house.

This is a magical and imaginative book which my kids love. It takes a bit of reading at first, but once you get the gist of the story it is easy to lead the children from picture to picture, and it is very well illustrated. It reads almost like a TV programme.

Highly recommended by me. Suits from 2 year olds up to six or seven.

Every child should have a Raymond Briggs book on their bookshelf. Perhaps best known for his wonderful picture book "The Snowman", which is a fantastic book for children, especially ones that cannot yet read (considering it is made up entirely of pictures) "The Bear" is a natural follow-on, once again featuring a young child's interactions with a creature of snowy lands that may or may not be real.

With misty, dreamy illustrations that range from small comic-book panels to full-page spreads, Briggs creates the warm domesticity of a typical family household and the mysterious alien presence of a massive polar bear that enters through young red-haired Tilly's bedroom window. Far from being afraid, or even particularly surprised, Tilly welcomes him into her home.

Typically enough her parents treat the entire proceedings as an imaginary game that their child is inventing (although they treat it with heart-warming indulgence rather than simply ignoring their daughter's claims), and it is sure to raise smiles that the two of them keep missing the massive presence of a bear in their midst. Briggs' skill as an illustrator shines as the bear hides behind doors, under beds, or simply out of the adults' line of vision within the reasonably small interior of Tilly's house. One particularly striking picture portrays Tilly and her father watching television, oblivious to the bear looming over them from behind.

Children have a special bond with animals, able to connect with them on a level that some adults no longer have; and like a favourite toy, they often think of them and treat them as human beings. Out of all the animal kingdom, the polar bear has a special mystery to it and so is an apt choice for the huge, ghostly presence that fills the pages of this book. Briggs' bear is certainly a strange presence, both in the reasons for its arrival at Tilly's house and its final destination - in between is the typical domestic messiness that comes from keeping a polar bear in the house. Though it is predominately an animal character, behaving as one would expect (including leaving several smelly surprises for Tilly that she cleans up in disgust), there are often the barest traces of interest, intelligence and smiles in its expression.

"The Bear" is designed for slightly older readers considering the among of dialogue throughout, and though it is not Briggs best book, (but only because his other works such as "The Snowman", "Fungus the Bogeyman", and "Father Christmas" and are so beloved), this is a memorable, mysterious reading experience.