A Birthday for Bear

A Birthday for Bear. By Bonny Becker. Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton. 2009. (September 2009). Candlewick Press. 56 pages.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Bear dusted his shelves. Whisk! Whisk! Whisk! Bear swept his floor. He was very, very busy today. Bear was always very, very busy on his birthday.

How many chapters will it take for one persistent little Mouse to win his best friend Bear over to the ideas of celebrating his birthday? Any guesses? It takes a lot of effort on his part. But will it be worth it? Can Mouse and Bear have the best birthday ever?

I loved this one. It was great fun. I loved some of Mouse's tricks and schemes. Of course, these were all done with the most loving of intentions. How does Mouse operate? Well, I'll show you.

"Happy birthday, Bear!" cried Mouse.
"It's not my birthday," lied Bear.
"But it says so right here," said Mouse, waving a party invitation.
"Let me see that!" demanded Bear.
He peered at the card. It read:

Dear Mouse,
Come to Bear's birthday
at Bear's house today!
Balloons and presents
and birthday cake.

"This is your handwriting!" protested Bear. "You wrote it."
"Did I?" asked Mouse, most innocently.

So you see, Mouse has quite a big task ahead of him. Can he do it?

This one is a sequel to A Visitor for Bear. (Though you don't need to have read it in order to enjoy this one.)

© Becky Laney of Young Readers