Common Sense Media Review
By Jan Carr
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Girl blames bear in funny story about anger and forgiveness.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In HORRIBLE BEAR!, a girl's kite gets broken by accident when it falls into a bear's cave. Girl blames Bear -- "HORRIBLE BEAR!" -- and Bear is angry at the girl for blaming and disturbing him -- "RAWR!" But all the anger is defused when the girl breaks something herself and, after realizing how easy it is to have an accident, apologizes to Bear: "And all the horrible went right out of Bear." Together, they skip through the meadow, bounce up the mountain, patch the kite, and "Nothing was horrible at all … ." Bear then comes up with some "Sweet Bear ideas," as does the girl -- though the reader sees that -- uh, oh! -- a goat's now munching on the kite string.
Is It Any Good?
Readers will recognize themselves and learn a thing or two about strong emotions in this fun, colorful story about the runaway force of anger and the disarming power of forgiveness. Author Dyckman has a knack for combining humor with emotional truths, and illustrator OHora delivers a charming spitfire of a character with a mess of red curls as unruly as her emotions. The girl's angry at the bear, the bear's angry at the girl, and both of them stomp and shout. The story turns and illustration are lots of fun -- haven't we all felt anger at friends? -- and kids can chime in as the girl shouts "HORRIBLE BEAR!" and the bear growls "RAWR!"
There are jokes embedded in the art, with pictures of books about bears and a cameo from Dyckman/OHora's Wolfie the Bunny, and the book cleverly sidesteps a too-pat happy ending by showing another mishap-in-the-making: After the girl and bear mend the kite, we see a goat nibbling on it.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about anger. How do you feel when a friend breaks something? When you break something? Is it easy to break things by accident?
When does the story actually start? Look at the dedication and title pages. What happens in the art?
Which references to other stories can you find in the art? How many bear books do you see? Can you spot the picture of Wolfie the Bunny?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Zachariah OHora
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Book Characters , Friendship , Animals ( Wild Animals )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publishers : Little , Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : April 5, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 3 - 6
- Number of pages : 40
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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