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Saturday, February 25, 2017

There's a Bear on My Chair, written and illustrated by Ross Collins. Nosy Crow, Candlewick Press, Random House. 2015. $23.00 ages 2 and up


"He is so big,
it's hard to share.
There isn't any
room to spare.

We do not
make a happy pair,
a mouse and bear
with just one chair."

I have read many books a multitude of times. It is so much fun to share when you love it yourself. So, I was happy when I read this one over and over again to my two-year-old granddaughter while they were here visiting at Christmas. She laughed every time and so did I; often she was a touch indignant. She is just beginning to feel the push for space from her little sister, who is eight months. It is going to be a long-standing battle, don't you think? Not all the time, of course!

Poor Mouse is really annoyed by problems caused when a bear takes over his favorite space. How is he going to get that HUGE polar bear off his chair? It's easy to see the small rodent's chair is not a fit. It's also pretty funny - or so we thought. Nothing works to get the bear to move his butt - not pushing, or glaring, or tempting, or scaring.

"Maybe I'll give him
a scare -

I'll jump out
in my underwear!

But no.
Of course
he does not care.

That stinky bear
sat on my chair."

Finally, the mouse loses it!

"That's it! I'm done!
I do declare!
This bear
had led me to
despair!
It is not fair!
It is not fair!"

A surprise and witty ending draws laughs and a certain feeling of 'it serves him right'. Ross Collins has great fun with his characters giving them life and emotions that his readers will totally understand. The bear has absolutely no concern for the mouse's pleas or predicament. The mouse's anger builds, as does his voice. This rhyming tale is full of witty text and is an absolutely charming  read as many times as you are asked for it!
                                                                             

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