Ben loves grizzly bears so much that he wants a real one for his birthday. Instead, he gets a toy cuddly bear. Making the best of the situation, Ben tries to teach Cuddly Bear how to eat honey, fish and climb a tree like a grizzly bear.
Cuddly Bear is soon covered in honey, soggy and stuck in a tree! Every time the toy bear cannot do something, Ben gets more and more grizzly. So completely grizzly that he grows furry ears, a shiny black nose, paws, a furry coat, claws and a round tail. Ben becomes a grizzly bear.
What will it take for Grizzly Ben to become Ben again?
Grizzly Ben is such a charming picture book! Ben really is grizzly – when things don’t go his way he clomps, stomps and romps until he turns into a bear himself! He soon finds that being a grumpy grizzly is exhausting – and a little bit scary. It turns out sometimes a cuddle from a teddy bear is just what he needs.
This book is fantastic for helping children recognise their emotions and learn how to regulate them. Seeing Ben as a grizzly bear is a powerful metaphor for grumpiness and that sad, lonely, tired feeling children get when the anger is gone. They’ll see that safety can come in the form of a cuddle and everything will be ok again.
Perfect for EYFS and KS1 classrooms, children will love Alex Ayliffe’s vibrant illustrations and discussing times when they feel similar to Ben.
Thank you to Little Door Books for this fun, thoughtful book!
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Books by Kate Heap:
Scope for Imagination 