Brave Little Bear

As winter draws to a close, three bears are fast asleep in their cave; there’s Arlo, his sister Eva and their mother. First to wake is Arlo who loves being snuggled in the family den beneath the mountain In contrast Eva is ready to start exploring what the world outside has to offer on their forthcoming travels to Spring Valley. Arlo doesn’t feel ready to make the move to a new home, he doesn’t feel sufficiently brave to embark on new adventures. However join the others he must.

As the three travel, it’s carefree, fearless Eva that races through the Great Wood, up the tall tree, down the steep hill and goes splashing into the water. As the three reach a tall, snow-covered mountain ridge, a chill wind starts blowing but they must cross to get to their destination. They start up the slope, Eva in the lead, but suddenly Arlo realises that his sister is no longer close to their mother as she’d instructed. Without any hesitation, Arlo starts searching for her using the sounds of her cries and eventually in the distance, there is Eva. He runs towards her and in an embrace, the two admit their fears to each other. Now Arlo must embrace his fears and it’s he that takes the lead on their long trek over the ridge to their mother. ‘Being brave when you feel afraid … is the very bravest brave of all’, a relieved mother tells Arlo gently.

Steve Small captures the emotions of the bears’ journey through the swirling snowstorm superbly, in starkly striking atmospheric scenes supporting the notion that everyone is capable of finding inner courage at critical moments.