Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Penguin, 2014 ISBN: 978-0399256677
When Beatrice and Bear met for the first time one spring day, they “did not get off to a good start” because Bear was sitting in Beatrice’s carrot patch and he was squashing her plants. Thankfully, the two animals soon set aside their differences and they became great friends. They spent the rest of spring and all of summer together.
Then fall arrived and one day Beatrice couldn’t find Bear. A squirrel told Beatrice that Bear was going to hibernate and then, because Beatrice did not know what hibernation was, it explained that Bear was going to have “a long winter sleep.”
Beatrice assured her large best friend that bunnies were excellent hibernators. Then, when Beatrice and Bear lay down to sleep in Bear’s hibernation cave, Beatrice found out something rather upsetting.
In this delightful picture book the author gives readers a tale that celebrates friendship and resourcefulness. Sometimes even the best of friends discover that they don’t have everything in common, that there are some things that they cannot share. This can be a painful realization at first, but if one is creative, one can find a way to make things work in spite of the differences that can exist between friends.
