SuitabookMy Friend Bear
Jez Alborough
- Reading
- Read the rhymes with changing voices, then invite the child to retell how the meeting changes, using the illustrations’ faces and body language.
- Themes
- Making friends across difference: Eddie and the real bear discover a shared game involving teddy bears and become friends. The story presents friendship as emerging through communication, humour and shared play.
- Fear and courage: Eddie hides from the giant bear, then finds the courage to speak when the bear cries. Fear is treated as understandable but not permanent; speaking and discovery alter the encounter.
- Misunderstanding and laughter: The bear initially thinks the hidden Eddie is the voice of his teddy; when the confusion is revealed, anger gives way to giggling and a game. The misunderstanding creates brief tension but is ultimately used to open a shared, comic interaction.
- Worth knowing
- Pause when the bear is crying, acknowledging both characters’ feelings before returning to the comic confusion.