Stay Awake,bear! - Softcover

Bishop, Gavin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0531302490 ISBN 13: 9780531302491

Publisher: Scholastic, 2000

Synopsis

Old Bear and his friend Brown Bear decide that sleeping all winter is a waste of time, so they stay awake planning a warm summer vacation and then sleep through the whole trip.

About this title

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1-Bishop's lively story puts a new spin on hibernation. Old Bear has decided that "Sleeping is such a waste of time! It takes up the whole winter." So he does all he can to stay awake, from playing the banjo to baking pies. This thoroughly modern bear even watches videos. Finally, he finds he's not tired at all, but restless. Enter his neighbor, Brown Bear, who is having trouble sleeping and comes over for company. The two revel in their new companionship, playing Scrabble and eating macaroni and cheese for the rest of the winter. When summer comes, they go on a trip-and sleep all the way through it. The next fall, feeling refreshed, they decide once again to stay awake throughout the winter. Children will readily agree with the bears' idea that sleeping is a waste of time when there are so many other things to do, and the joke of sleeping through vacation will not be lost on them. Bishop's cartoon-style watercolors with pen and ink convey the jovial characters, from their delight in winter camaraderie to their unconscious horseback trek across the plains. Librarians will welcome this silly spin on a popular topic, and youngsters will take to it like bears to honey.
Kathleen M. Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Nap-haters will agree with this book's stubborn hero, who argues, "Sleeping is such a waste of time! It takes up the whole winter." Although Old Bear yawns when the first snowflakes fall and his neighbors disappear into their dens, he firmly resists hibernation ("He filled his days by playing songs on his banjo....He baked pies and made spicy jam tarts"). One day, he hears someone at his doorAanother insomniac, Brown Bear. These kindred spirits while away the season together, by playing Scrabble and eating. They spend the next summer on a vacation, catching up on their lost rest in scenic locations. While this tale lacks the depth of imagination of Bishop's previous Little Rabbit and the Sea, it conveys a cozy mood with autumnal watercolor hues, overlaid with dense ink crosshatching. A wood-burning-stove warmth pervades his images of Old Bear's tree-trunk abode, which is decorated with rustic antiques and cushy armchairs. The narrative outwardly goes against the grain of sleepy-time picture books, for the happy characters see no error in their un-bearlike ways. On the other hand, the book lulls readers into relaxation with its closing image of the rebels on the beach, sacked out in deck chairs. Bishop and the bears find the best of both worlds. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0531302490
• ISBN 13: 9780531302491
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32