There is no need to be afraid of The Bear Under the Stairs
Written: Oct 05 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: A sweet, funny story
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: The Bear Under the Stairs is a wonderful story that gently deals with children's imagination and fears.
|
|
|
| BearySweet's Full Review: The Bear under the Stairs |
I have a library of books from my years as a preschool teacher that have not been appropriate for my 2 year old so far. But as Jake makes the transition from picture books to storybooks, I pull out stories that I think will interest him or meet a developmental need. After a Kindermusik class about caterpillars and butterflies I pulled out The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, much to Jake's delight. Now that he is showing signs of a budding imagination and more importantly, growing fears, I thought it was time to introduce him to The Bear Under the Stairs. This book has been one of my favorites for many years. Since my copy is so tattered, I do not let Jake handle it by himself, but I am anxious to get a new copy so he can explore this book on his own.
The Story
The focus of our story is William, who appears to be between three and five years of age. William is afraid of bears and the place under the stairs, where he though he saw a bear one time. William worries, as any child would, that this bear is hungry and has an appetite for little boys. In order to appease the bear, William saves a little bit from each meal and tosses it to the bear under the stairs when no one is looking. Of course William keeps his eyes closed so he doesn't have to actually see the bear, but he has a good idea of what he looks like. He draws a picture of a very ferocious bear. In his dreams, William imagines the bear doing all kinds of fun things around the house while the family sleeps. The bear even draws a picture of William. After a while William's mom notices an odd smell coming from under the stairs. When she tries to investigate she is stopped by a very terrified William. This leads to a discussion of the hungry bear living under the stairs. William's mom decides to scare the bear away. When they open the door they find...."an old furry rug, a broken chair, and horrible, stinky food everywhere....but no scary bear!" William helps his mom clean up the mess and she buys him a stuffed grizzly bear. William is no longer afraid of bears or the place under the stairs.
The Text
As if the story isn’t charming enough, it is written in a wonderful style that makes it as much fun to read, as it is to hear. Helen Cooper, who both writes and illustrates The Bear Under the Stairs uses rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia* to bring this story to life. A perfect example of the excellent use of rhythm, rhyme and onomatopoeia:
“And when no one was watching,
William crept down the hall,
Cracked open the door,
Threw the pear to the bear
That lived under the stairs
And slammed the door quick-
Wham, bang, thump!”
The text trips along, pulling the reader into the rhythm and captivating the audience. The first time I read this story to Jake, he was a little antsy, but halfway through the story he came back and climbed into my lap. I believe it was the rhythm of the text that brought him back.
The Illustrations
Cooper’s detailed watercolor illustrations are a perfect compliment to this story. The tone of the illustrations is dark and a touch ominous, but not too frightening for little ones. The detailing is wonderful from the unruly shock of hair on William’s head to the wonderfully whimsical two-page layout of William’s dream of the bear’s nocturnal activities throughout the house. The pictures seem to be drawn from William’s perspective although he is at the forefront on most of the pages. Even though the bear is only in William’s imagination, we see the bear lurking in shadows, peering at William from the staircase or behind furniture and hiding out in the dark place under the stairs. Towards the end of the story, after William’s mom has helped him confront his fears, the illustrations show the bear packing his bags and leaving. I think this gives a nice sense of closure to the book, leaving children with the reassuring feeling that all is well.
I began reading The Bear Under the Stairs to my students when I was a preschool teacher. My copy is hardcover and it is so worn, the inside pages are now completely detached from the binding. I’m not surprised since this story was requested daily by my students. Jake often asks to hear the ‘bear’ book now, so I will definitely be purchasing another copy. Jake deserves to have a new copy to wear out on his own!
*The following definitions are provided courtesy of http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/onomatopoeia.html
“Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.”
“Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it represents.”
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
BearySweet
|
|
Member: Michelle
Location: The Buckeye State
Reviews written: 85
Trusted by: 68 members
About Me:
Taking a break...life is a bit crazy right now.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.