Big Brown Bear's Cave

Description

Big Brown Bear's new cave just doesn't feel right, so he fills it with all kinds of STUFF. Soon there is no room to stretch or scratch and no room for his friends to come and visit - something's got to give!

Yuval Zommer graduated from the Royal College of Art and has worked as a creative director for some of the world's top advertising agencies. His first picture book, The Big Blue Thing on the Hill, was published by Templar in Spring 2014, followed by One Hundred Bones and One Hundred Sausages.

I am a huge fan of Zommer's beautifully-illustrated books so was thrilled to be sent a copy of his latest picture book for Templar - 'Big Brown Bear's Cave.'Big Brown Bear is looking for a new cave to call his own and is delighted when he quickly finds a dark and dusty cave which is just the right size. So he moves in right away.The problem is, that his cave doesn't feel quite like home. Big Brown Bear goes for a walk to mull things over and notices that a lot of humans appear to have caves outside their houses filled with boxes and household appliances. Bear decides that what he needs are some boxes and junk of his own.However, even after he's redecorated, his lovely new cave still doesn't feel right. Whatever can the problem be...?Reading this book, I could really empathise with Big Brown Bear's love of clutter - his attempts at making his home cosy are quite similar to my own!Gorgeously illustrated in Yuval's playful style, this heart-warming tale of the value of friendship (and decluttering) will both entertain and delight readers.Bear-rilliant! * Library Girl and Book Boy * Big Brown Bear's Cave is a lovely picture book. It tells the story of Brown bear who finds a new cave and can't make it feel like home. So he goes out to find 'stuff' to put in his cave. He stumbles across a human street and notices their caves (also known as sheds) are full of stuff so he decides to collect some of it to fill his cave with. And he goes all out filling his cave with all the junk that we have in our sheds and garages. Tables, chairs, lamps, watering cans, guitars and much much more soon fill up Bear's cave; so much so that he can no longer fit in it to any of the things bears do. Even worse, he can't share his new cave with his friends. In the end Bear finds himself completely stuck amongst all the stuff and turns to his friends to help him out. Soon he realises that all this stuff isn't that good, and his bear friends find a way to share the cave together which makes it truly feel like home. This is a great book for reading with children and it creates lots of talking points. It also is a good story to use when talking to children about materialism and what are the really important things to care about, like enjoying friendship. There are really lovely illustrations in this book which will captivate and engage readers. I think this book will also be a good gift for dads who love their 'man cave' and for long-suffering wives ever on at them to clear them out! We'll be enjoying this book at bedtime tonight and I'm sure there will be calls for a repeat read. * Reading Zone * Big Brown Bear thinks that filling his new cave with 'stuff' will help him to make him feel at home. But will having lots of material possessions really help? We love this new picture book from Yuval Zommer which shows that having lots of possessions doesn't necessarily lead to happiness.Big Brown Bear's Cave is a wonderful story to show children that people and relationships are much more important than possessions, a message that we have constantly striven to convey to our daughter. With the help of his friends Bear comes to realise that surrounding himself with 'stuff' is not the solution to his problem!We're huge bear fans here and we love Big Brown Bear's story, there's so much humour in the text and the illustrations. Bear attempts to copy the concept of human 'caves' and helps himself to 'stuff' from people's garages. He takes boxes, anything with wheels and finds an amazing array of kitchen items including a food mixer, a colander, a coffee pot and a measuring jug. The humour escalates as the cave gets fuller much to the bemusement of his three friends. However, in a wonderfully heartwarming and beautifully illustrated final spread Bear finds happiness in his new home From the moment we met the four bears we fell in love with the illustrations in the story. The natural colours of the forest and Bear's new cave contrast with the bolder colours of the 'stuff' that he collects. I love the pictures of Bear's friends trying to get him out of his cave when he's stuck and my daughter laughs at many of the items that Bear collects - "Why does a bear need a dress making dummy, Mummy?".Big Brown Bear's Cave can be used to initiate discussion about how important friends and family are and what children think that they need to make their homes happy places. It would be a lovely story to use in a reception class for a Homes and Houses topic and the pictures showing Bear's new 'stuff' can provide lots of scope for discussion and introduce new vocabulary. There is so much in Bear's new cave to talk about! -- Catherine Friess * Story Snug * This is a simply delightful story about friendship, beautifully illustrated and charmingly told. * Parents in Touch * Our Picture Book of the Week this week is a zany and chaotic tale with a warm heart. Let's meet Big Brown Bear...You know what it's like when you just move into a new house. You've spent ages clearing out tons of old junk, all your worldly possessions are in boxes and you slowly start to fill your new space with all your knick-knacks, bits and bobs, flotsam and jetsam.I remember when we moved into our current house - some years before Charlotte came along - and thinking we'd never fill that space up.Some years later, as the bookshelves heave with books and Charlotte's toys are crammed into every available nook and cranny we can definitely feel where ace storysmith Yuval Zommer was coming from when he wrote and illustrated "Big Brown Bear's Cave".Bear is a lovely character but he just can't seem to throw anything away. You never know when you're going to need an old bike, a kettle, an empty paint pot, a broken broom.Because Bear can't bear (hah) to throw anything out, his lovely homely cave is slowly filling up - to the point where Bear can't even turn round to scratch his bear behind!Worse still, Bear's friends find his cave such a squeeze that they've stopped coming over. What on earth can Bear do? Something's definitely got to go. A lot of things in fact!This is such a fun tale, bristling with energy and originality and though we've said many, many times that we think we'll never see another fantastic bear book, authors such as Yuval are always proving us wrong.Fabulous, this will keep your little ones entertained for ages as they spot all the things in each super-detailed page spread. And who can resist a lovable old bear in any book?Charlotte's best bit: Poor bear trying to scratch. Not easy when you're hemmed in by kipple!Daddy's favourite bit: A hugely original and entertaining bear tale, full of fun with fab themes of materialism vs friendship underpinning Yuval's fabulous illustrations. * Read It Daddy * What is more important to you: friends or 'stuff'? I know which I'd prefer any day.Could it be though that Yuval Zommer secretly visited our home before writing this story: I certainly wish Big Brown Bear, star of his latest picture book would drop in on our human cave (garage): he'd have a field day surrounded by stuff, stuff and more stuff; and he'd be able to fill his new abode with all manner of goodies.The ursine collector definitely goes overboard on acquiring creature comforts for his empty cave, so much so that its fame spreads far and wide, attracting the attention of all his pals who are eager to see inside his residence.Lack of room prevents their entry however, and off they go leaving Big Brown Bear to continue filling the space.Alone with his boxes, Bear begins to be overwhelmed by lack of wiggle room, so much so that when his three friends return with an invitation, he's well and truly hemmed in ...Then there's only one thing to do and our hero does it: wise move, Big Brown Bear.Zommer's portrayal of the acquisitive trait, and the accumulative chaos it can cause, is a rib-tickling treat. There's Bear pondering over the sheer variety of 'stuff'; and his obvious delight over the selection of his favourites - 'stuff that came with wheels, stuff that came with handles and stuff that came in boxes.' He almost looks as though he's dancing with joy despite the precarious balancing act required to carry that stack of boxes.This is very much a fable of our time and will, I suspect strike a chord with readers of all ages. * Red Reading Hub * Sometimes the bear minimum is best!There will be bear hugs all round when youngsters get their hands on the latest captivating picture book from dynamic author and illustrator Yuval Zommer, creator of the hugely popular One Hundred Bones and One Hundred Sausages.This playful adventure starring a Big Brown Bear who can't stop filling his new home with unnecessary 'stuff,' comes packed with Zommer's addictive, freewheeling sense of fun which makes story time such a delight for little children.'My cave will have the most ever!' Big Brown Bear's new cave just doesn't feel like home, so he fills it with all kinds of STUFF. He has seen how humans fill their 'caves' with stuff and that is exactly what he is going to do too. Soon there is SO much stuff there is no room to stretch or scratch or do any of the things that Big Brown Bears generally like to do. And there is definitely no room for his friends to come and visit. Something has got to give because a cave without friends in it just doesn't feel like home.Zommer is such a clever talent in the world of picture books. His intricately detailed, colourful and energetic artwork possesses a glorious joie de vivre and this funny, gentle story speaks loudly about the value of belonging and the warmth of friendship.The cutest, cuddliest bear you'll meet this year! * Lancashire Evening Post * Stylish pictures, about anexcitable bear who seizes agarage full of clutter fromhoarding humans to createa perfect cave , tell us thatfriends, not stuff , make acave a home . An appealingpicture book with a lessonfor collectors of all ages. * Sunday Times * Look at the gorgeous fellow who came with the book!I love the dedication Yuval Zommer has written in the front of his new picture book:'Dedicated to all the kids who barely tidy their rooms.'I admit I used to be one of those kids, and my husband will, I am sure, pipe up that I am still one when he reads this review.Big Brown Bear is on the hunt for the perfect home. Well, not explicitly at the beginning - he's just taking a stroll but then he sees a cave that looks pretty perfect for him so he decides to move in straight away (perhaps it's a second home). The problem is that the cave doesn't really feel like home so he carries on his way until he discovers HUMAN CAVES! And, being human, they weren't just large, dark spaces like bear caves (though they were dusty), they had STUFF in them. Everywhere.Big Brown Bear comes to the conclusion that where he's going wrong in his interior design is lack of STUFF so he sets about gathering things for his own cave, particularly anything with handles, wheels or that comes in boxes. He vows to not stop until he has filled every space.In short, Big Brown Bear has become a hoarder.Everyone wants to see this Aladdin's Cave of STUFF but the problem is - you guessed it - there is no space for visitors. And then Big Brown Bear can't join his friends on a fishing trip because he gets stuck amongst the STUFF (I must say that however bad I am this has never happened to me).It's a good thing that Bear has friends who are adept at pulling from all directions because they free him and then help him have a clearance, returning all the STUFF to the human caves. (So if you ever notice large amounts of items go missing from your garage, it could be down to a bear thief.)Will Big Brown Bear (BBB) finally feel at home?This book captivated the children at school - they knew before BBB what trouble he was heading towards and chuckled at his silliness. The illustrations are gorgeous and full of colour, texture and movement, and somehow convey BBB's clumpiness without looking... clumpy (if that makes any sense). The humour is gentle and clear and while the pages are full of STUFF (illustrations!) the text is easy to find and read (I'm not a big fan of writing that goes in all sorts of directions and changes font - it muddles me).Will this book encourage untidy children to put their STUFF away? I don't know. My room hasn't seen an improvement (sorry, Carl). But they do say that a tidy house or room means a tidy mind so maybe I should give it a go.Now, where did I put that vacuum cleaner? * Childtastic Bookd * Whether it's too many shoes or toomany toys, we can all be a littleguilty of hoarding stuff. So YuvalZommer's lovely new story withenergetic illustrations, about a bearwho fills his new cave with so manypossessions that there's no roomfor his friends to visit, may ring truefor you as much as your child. * Gurgle *