The Next Door Bear

Mary Kuryla and Eugene Yelchin
HarperCollins (2011)
ISBN 9780061259258
Reviewed by Marten Weldon (age 6) for Reader Views (6/11)

“The Next Door Bear” by Mary Kuryla and Eugene Yelchin is about Emma who is new to town and doesn’t have any friends.  All the other kids were running through the sprinklers, and she wanted to have a turn but nobody invited her.  She was sad and bored and decided to go home.  When she was in the elevator going back to her apartment, a bee got in the elevator with her.  Then the back elevator doors opened and the bee went out and she smelled a smell that she hadn’t smelled in a long time.  The smell was flowers.  She got off the elevator to explore and discovered a bear with his paw very deep in a bee hive.  She ran and ran back into the elevator and she looked behind her very nervously and the doors didn’t shut.  The doors opened wider to let the bear in except the bear was dressed in fancy clothes.  She apologized to the bear for coming uninvited. 

Later the next day she found an invitation from the bear to have honey and tea.  She went and had tea and honey and played in the sprinklers with Mr. Bear.  She had fun.  She decided that if she could make friends and have fun with Mr. Bear, she could make friends with anyone.  She went outside and smiled at the kids she didn’t know.  Will they finally invite her to play?

I would recommend this book to people who like flowers because there are lots of pretty flower pictures in the book.  “The Next Door Bear” might also be good for someone who has just moved and is having a hard time making friends.

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