Bear's Bicycle

My kids loved to have this book read to them again and again. They enjoyed pointing out all the naughty things that bear was doing. I think it also reinforced their belief that their own teddy bear ventured out and got into trouble when they were not looking! Now I am reading it to the grandkids and they are enjoying it just as much! This book is timeless!

Cute. Not too cute, but just the right amount of cute in this funny, beautifully illustrated, award-winning book about a boy who goes bike-riding with his imagination. Our young, nattily dressed (great hat!) hero takes out his training-wheeled green and red bike, with his stuffed teddy bear. Somehow, that bear becomes a gigantic real bear, and the humongous real bear rides his own tiny little yellow bicycle along side the boy. The wise boy explains (and the illustration show) traffic rules that he follows whenever he rides (and there are some useful ones: watching for opening doors, looking both ways, etc.). The bear does not follow the rules. He gets into accidents and mishaps, but his size and the author's good taste keep him from any trips to the hospital. Author McLeod and illustrator McPhail manage to show the danger without scaring us, and, indeed, with a bit of humor. This is an enormously appealing little book. The symmetrical structure contrasting the boy's cautious, safe ride, versus the bear's slapstick miscues. This organization and the single sentence in each two-page example clearly explain each imp0rtant rule of the road. The illustrations by the renowned McPhail are warm and welcoming, soft and soothing, yet funny. You don't have to know how to ride a bike to enjoy this masterpiece of simplicity and imagination.

I got this out of the library two weeks ago, and my two children, ages 4 and 2, have made me read it to them at least twice a day. They really like the story of the boy who goes for a bike ride and brings along his teddy bear. However, the teddy turns into a real bear who definately does not follow the rules of the road. We all laugh at the scenes of the boy acting sensibly (stopping when others are walking in front of him, maneuvering around garbage cans and open car doors) and of the bear plowing ahead and into all of these things. It's sweet and funny, and can also double as a safety lesson for beginner bicycle riders.

My twin boys (22 months) continue to laugh hysterically at this book and somehow I haven't gotten tired of it yet. Wonderful illustrations with a very nice close. A bit of cartoonish violence(bears on bicycles running into mailmen) might put it in the not-for-everybody category, though.