Bear Snores On
written by Karma Wilson
illustrated by Jane Chapman

Children's book review by Sarah Denslow

What could be worse than sleeping through a party?

We know that bears hibernate through the winter, but what happens when animals that stay awake through the cold months have a party next to a snoring bear?

It’s a snowy, blustery night, and little mouse just wants a dry place to warm up. He creeps in bear’s cave and builds a tiny, mouse-sized fire.

Mouse is pretty quiet, but soon he is joined by a hare with tea and popcorn, a badger with nuts, some birds and… in no time, there’s quite a party going on to help the winter animals pass the night. But the bear snores on…

That is, until a tiny flake of pepper causes the bear to give a BIG sneeze! Bear is quite upset to wake up and find he’s missed a party going on right under his nose.

But don’t worry! More tea can be brewed; more corn can be popped! Bear joins in the fun, until his friends fall asleep, worn out after a long night, but now bear can’t sleep…

The illustrations are realistic in their portrayal of the woodland creatures, which means a minimum of bright colors and a lot of brown tones. Nevertheless, they evoke the fun of staying warm by a fire with popcorn and other treats on a cold night. (And really, do we need to show children pictures of blue badgers and pink gophers?)

Although the rhyming verse of Bear Snores On makes it pass more quickly than other books of the same length, it’s still quite long for very young children.

(There’s a board book version, but if you feel your child needs a drool-proof edition, he’s probably too young to sit through it.)

Ages three to six, though, should love this slightly silly winter woodland party.

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