Horrible Bear!
By Jan Carr,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Girl blames bear in funny story about anger and forgiveness.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
Where to Read
Community Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
Highly entertaining 'message' book
Report this review
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: Ame Dyckman
- Illustrator: Zachariah OHora
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Book Characters, Friendship, Great Girl Role Models, 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, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 13, 2017
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Read
Our Editors Recommend
Picture Books
Apps and Websites That Teach Kids About Feelings
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate