I really liked the beginning of the book - I thought it was going to tell the story of why bears hibernate. Instead, Bear and his friends go on an adventure (for no reason) and magically find a balloon to fly home. I was disappointed.

This book 1st appeal to me because I have a three-year-old and we own a dog named bear. I love the artwork in this book, as it reminds me of the books that I read when I was a child. Very simple yet descriptive language, easy enough for a young child to comprehend. The book asks questions as it goes along and engages the young child within the story. I was impressed by this book and would purchase it for my own children.

This is a cute little story about curiosity and friendship. The plot doesn't seem to flow well, but the illustrations are cute and the story does, in my opinion, have re-readability. .

Bear does not want to sleep through winter. His friends help him journey to a warmer place. I loved the friendship of the characters and how willing they were to help each other. The story is really cute and perfect for toddlers.

I liked this book and the images are cute and the best thing about the book for me.

I read the book with my daughter and she did enjoy it and we read it again straight after so she could just in but for me as a mum I felt it was a little lacking in places.

It is 3 stars from me for this one

I felt that this was an okay storybook, but not a good one. The bear decides he does not want to hibernate, so he goes off to follow migrating birds with his friend's chicken and elephant. Then the bear gets sad and wants to go home, so a hot air balloon magically appears for them to go home. I guess I was missing the why of this storybook, why were these characters going to go on a journey just to go home in the end. Not saying that there has to be a moral, but a reason behind their ending up back where they started. Also, the hot air balloon was really random! Young kids will probably enjoy this story, but I cannot imagine that kids over the age of 4, maybe 5, will enjoy this one.

A very cute story about a bear and its journey to sleeping. The artwork was very charming and I found the story to be sweet. It would make a great bedtime story for kids!

The illustrations were ok...not great but, just ok.
In my opinion, the story line doesn’t flow smoothly enough to keep a child engaged in what is going on.

Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.

Hmmm… While there is always a place for the whimsical, silly and childish in one's life, this is taking the biscuit. A short review of this book would be two words – "scale, much?!", for the bear of the title has an elephant and a chicken for best friends, and they're all of equivalent size. Bear decides, while scoffing his pre-hibernation calorie-fest, that he doesn't feel sleepy, and should follow the birds south to the warmer countries. So all three animals float on lily pads past a crocodile, do this, do that, and somehow the elephant jumps into a hot air balloon that's just handily there. We all know, of course, that elephant cannot jump, on account of having no knees.

…

…

Yes, cos that's the only problem with this daft nonsense. Daft, and nonsense, can be winsome, but I didn't think this was. It's a very disposable story, nicely conveyed through both large and small landscape art, that seems to show going off on a wild goose chase is all very well if you have good friends but you better conform in the end. Dubious. One and a half hot air balloons.

This was an okay story about a bear who is not quite sleepy enough to hibernate yet. The illustrations were not my favorite, and I thought the story was a little too long for the age range.

I'm not entirely sure what the point of this book's story is supposed to be. I'm not saying all children's books should have a message or a lesson, but I do think a story should have some kind of point. Why are we going on an adventure, if all we do at the end is instantly want to go home again..? The back.of the book says it's about friends, adventure and being yourself, which is lovely, but also a tad generic.

Anyway, the art is very charming, should fit any sleepy little bear.

**I received an e-ARC from NetGalley for an honest review**

The colors were pretty, and the story was okay.
Nice, but nothing new or interesting.

A sweet story with simple illustrations, this is teaches children about bears hibernating in an elementary way. They also get to see a bear, elephant, and a chicken go on a fun adventure!