Children - Holidays & Festivals, Fiction - Animals, Children - Fiction & Literature, Children - Poetry

Bear Stays Up for Christmas

Name: Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Author: Karma Wilson
ISBN: 9781416958963

by Karma Wilson, Jane Chapman

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Overview

"The day before Christmas,

snuggled on his floor,

Bear sleeps soundly

with a great big snore...."

Bear's friends are determined to keep Bear awake for Christmas! So they wake Bear up and have him help them find a Christmas tree, bake cakes, hang up stockings, and sing Christmas songs. Bear stays up — by discovering that giving is one of the best Christmas presents!

How a SURPRISE visit from someone very special gives Bear and his friends a Christmas to remember makes an enchanting holiday story for young readers. With Karma Wilson's memorable text and Jane Chapman's glowing illustrations, Bear Stays Up for Christmas is a book to cherish throughout the year.

Bear's friends awaken him the day before Christmas and help him to stay awake as they bake fruitcakes, fill stockings, and sing carols; then, while they sleep, he prepares his own surprise.

Synopsis

"The day before Christmas,

snuggled on his floor,

Bear sleeps soundly

with a great big snore...."

Bear's friends are determined to keep Bear awake for Christmas! So they wake Bear up and have him help them find a Christmas tree, bake cakes, hang up stockings, and sing Christmas songs. Bear stays up -- by discovering that giving is one of the best Christmas presents!

How a SURPRISE visit from someone very special gives Bear and his friends a Christmas to remember makes an enchanting holiday story for young readers. With Karma Wilson's memorable text and Jane Chapman's glowing illustrations, Bear Stays Up for Christmas is a book to cherish throughout the year.

The New York Times - Sandra Dutton

Jane Chapman's illustrations show animals that are startlingly realistic. Bear has dark whiskers and long, curved claws that are always at rest in his huge, furry paws. Badger's face, with its masklike brown-and-white pattern, is beautifully delineated; and Raven, dark and brooding, has a thoughtful, engaged expression. Bear's pals Wren, Gopher, Mole and Hare also appear in all three books.

About the Author, Karma Wilson

Karma Wilson is the author of the bestselling BEAR books illustrated by Jane Chapman, ONE DAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOG illustrated by Joan Rankin, and many other award-winning picture books. She lives with her family in Fortine, Montana. She can also be found at www.karmawilson.com.

Jane Chapman is the best-selling illustrator of Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson, as well as Mommy Mine by Tim Warnes, her husband. Jane and Tim live in rural southwest England with their son, Noah, and share a studio at home with views of the open countryside.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

School Library Journal, starred review Kids will ask for this book again and again.

Sandra Dutton

Publishers Weekly

Bear's thoughtful buddies rouse him from his deep hibernation nap just in time for Christmas Eve. With creative planning, the animals get their ursine friend into the holiday spirit-and the Yuletide preparations. And by the time Santa makes his appearance, guess who's tuckered out? (Not a certain Bear.) This duo's latest Bear book sustains the sweetness and humor of its predecessors (Bear Snores On; Bear Wants More) via rhyming, read-aloud-ready text and soft acrylic scenes of the cuddly creatures and wintry landscapes. Ages 3-7. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Kids will ask for this book again and again.

Children's Literature

Bear normally hibernates in the winter, so he misses Christmas. His forest friends want to share the holiday with him, so Mouse shouts in his ear to awaken him and the animals agree to keep Bear busy so he will stay awake. Bear carries the Christmas tree back to his lair and the other animals decorate it. The animals are anthropomorphic enough to stand on their hind legs to stir popcorn and string it for the tree, but their surroundings are the snowy forest. Most of the text rhymes, which even forces a grammatical error: "He plods very slow/as they trudge through the snow." Will Bear stay awake to greet Christmas? And what is the perfect gift for a sleepy Bear? Bear has appeared in at least two other books—Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More; children who loved the first two in the series will undoubtedly enjoy this addition. 2004, Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster, Ages 3 to 7.
—Dr. Judy Rowen

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-It's the day before Christmas, and Bear's friends have gathered in his lair to wake him up to celebrate the holiday. They get a tree, pop corn and bake fruitcake, and hang stockings and hum songs. The others doze off, but Bear keeps busy wrapping presents, baking cookies, and decorating, unaware that a certain plump, red-suited gentleman is watching from outside the cave. The rhyming text sings, shouts, whispers, and crows, and the appealing acrylic illustrations are dear. This is an exuberant tale of friendship and perseverance, and holiday storytimes will be the brighter for it.-M. A. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In this third story about Bear and his friends, Bear struggles to stay awake during the group's holiday preparations. On Christmas Eve, all the other animals fall asleep, but Bear stays up all night making presents for the others. He's so busy with his work that he misses the appearance of Santa, who pauses at the cave door to fill all their stockings. On Christmas morning, the smaller animals enjoy their own gifts and then surprise Bear with a comfy quilt for his long-awaited winter slumber. The rollicking rhyming text is punctuated with the regular refrain of "but the bear stays up," which will surely be chanted gleefully by children listening to this story. The illustrations do a fine job with animal expressions and with difficult situations such as a mole popping corn and a Raven stirring up some fruitcake. The oversized format includes many double-page spreads with the bumbling, big-hearted bear in action and then finally settling down for a long winter's nap, after which Bear had better be back. (Picture book. 3-7)

Children's Literature - Dr. Judy Rowen

Bear normally hibernates in the winter, so he misses Christmas. His forest friends want to share the holiday with him, so Mouse shouts in his ear to awaken him and the animals agree to keep Bear busy so he will stay awake. Bear carries the Christmas tree back to his lair and the other animals decorate it. The animals are anthropomorphic enough to stand on their hind legs to stir popcorn and string it for the tree, but their surroundings are the snowy forest. Most of the text rhymes, which even forces a grammatical error: "He plods very slow/as they trudge through the snow." Will Bear stay awake to greet Christmas? And what is the perfect gift for a sleepy Bear? Bear has appeared in other books—Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More. Now younger children can enjoy the story which has been reissued in board book format. Children who love the story will undoubtedly want the others. Reviewer: Dr. Judy Rowen