By Karma Wilson
Big Bear catches a cold, and his forest friends pile into his cave to nurse him better. Warm, bouncy rhyme for the youngest.
Bear wakes up achy and stuffed up, too worn out to play, and he can't shake the sniffles by himself. So his friends — Mouse, Hare, Badger, Gopher, Raven, Wren, and Mole — crowd into his cave to help. They brew tea, lay a cool cloth on his head, fluff his bed, and keep him company until he starts to feel better. Then, the way these Bear books go, the whole gang catches his cold, and a recovered Bear happily takes his turn as nurse. The rhyme is sing-song, and Jane Chapman's paintings are as snuggly as ever.
If your child wants a get-well book that's cozy and a little silly rather than hushed and serious, this is the one. The rhythm is soothing, so it can settle a feverish, restless little one, and all those friends bustling around Bear make being sick feel almost snug. When the tables turn at the end and everyone else goes down with it, there's a giggle right when a sniffly child could use one. It also slips in a gentle point about looking after each other, since Bear gets his own turn to be the helper.