The Hide-and-Scare Bear (BRUBAKER FORD) - Hardcover

In the leafy forest, a friendly group of animals live in harmony. One animal though isn't quite like the others. He's a big brash and loud bear who likes nothing better than playing his favourite game, Hide and Scare. This bear is quite impolite too. Never a please or thank-you or excuse me. He's turning the animals into nervous wrecks so what can be done? The animals have a huge meeting and decide that something must be done - but what? Bear is so much bigger than they are - but one rabbit comes up with a plan. She knows just how to solve this big hairy beary problem! Perhaps a big bear hug will help! We love a moral tale that doesn't read like one, and we truly love any book that encourages children to follow Rabbit's lead in this story, be a bit nicer and make the world a better place (but hey, hide and scare still looks like a huge amount of fun!) * Read it Daddy blog * A rambunctious bear thinks it is fun to scare all the other animals. Bear has horrible manners. None of the other woodland creatures want to be around him. He makes a mess when he eats, he is terribly rude, and worst of all, his favorite game is the aptly named Hide and Scare. "He would creep up on others / and count up to three... // then jump out with a ROAR! / from behind a tall tree." The forest animals can't take it anymore. Someone needs to stand up to Bear. But who? A tiny, white rabbit hops forward and proposes kindness instead of anger. "Maybe this bear's / not as bad as you say. / He's just never been shown / the kind way to play." After a lecture and a page turn (and with Rabbit's paws cuddled around Bear's nose), Bear suddenly becomes someone who would rather hug than scare. It's a quick resolution with not much motivation for change, but hopefully it may be a conversation starter on how to negotiate play situations with a youngster who is having difficulty. The anapestic meter holds up in most places and makes for a jaunty read, although the typesetting does not always guide readers through the verse as helpfully as it should. Though a bit pat, the book addresses an important social skill for the very young. * Kirkus Reviews *

There once lived a naughty and mischievous bear who liked playing a game he called "Hide and Scare". Then along came Rabbit, who offered advice - a short rabbit lesson on how to be nice. But can a little rabbit show a big bear that there is a kinder way to play?