The Bear in the Cave

Rosen is back on his ursine theme, this time with a very jolly looking bear who hears a noise… A bear (could it be the same bear discovered back in 1989 in his seaside cave in the author’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt?) is the narrator of this traveller’s tale of his journey, from the sea to the city, and the sights and sounds he sees and hears along the way. Once there he is discovered and rescued by four children who help him retrace his steps as the sun goes down. Back, back to the beach ‘To play by the waves. /Splishety splash /Splishety splash /Splishety splashety splish.’ and into his cave to enfold his new friends in his snuggedy snug for a snoozeley snooze.

Rosen has used a structure similar to Bear Hunt for this wonderful tale that brims with playful language and reassuring repetition, and is told with pace and rhythm. Brilliant for getting children listening carefully, joining in with sound making and engendering a love of language for its own sake. (Who wants a ‘Six-phase Teaching Programme’ when there are brilliant books like this?)

Adrian Reynolds’ rotund bear and the textured watercolours are suffused with light and make readers want to revisit and linger in their warmth and glow. All this and there’s the added bonus of a superb rendition of the story by the author himself on CD as part of the package.