Bound volumes of comic books often include pictures of the art in progress. Wouldn't it be awesome if illustrators of picture books for children would document their process like that? It would be annoying and time consuming just figuring out the process if one were trying for consistency, I get that. But even small low-quality snapshots taken more-or-less at random would be neat. Bob Ross is perennially popular for more than his reassuring commentary. Unlike sausage, it's very cool to see art being created. And what a boon it would be for the chronically-underfunded art departments of most public schools. Elsie— a little toy elephant, she is the newest character to join the toys. She is very good at doing almost everything but sometimes she is a little too enthusiastic when tying bows or blowing up balloons, and does not know when to stop. The other toys have a job keeping up with her. Elsie's trunk means that she can do things that the others cannot, such as using a knife, fork and spoon all at once and blowing the most amazing bubbles! As Elsie is the same size as Little Bear she can join in all his games but he doesn't always need her help. [20]

Camel: a toy camel who was almost as tall as Jolly Tall. Once tried to use Little Bear's trousers as hump warmers. Find sources: "Old Bear and Friends"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Old Bear by Kevin Henkes is a hibernation story about a bear who dreams his way through the winter. Bramwell Brown: a wise and intelligent old bear, often considered second to Old Bear. Liked to cook things for the other toys. Hoot— a female white toy owl who lives in the loft. She is the only one of the toys who can fly. She is sensible, kind and motherly and likes to look after the "younger" characters. Hoot sleeps all day in her nest on top of the wardrobe (unless someone needs to be rescued when she leaps into action). At night, however, when everyone else is asleep, Hoot is awake and busy. No one is really sure what she does, but if anything is missing in the morning it may be because Hoot has tidied it away in the night! [13]

The Naughty Cats— the main antagonists. Five toy cats who cause a lot of trouble for Ruby, Blue and Blanket but Blanket knows how to get them to behave themselves. [18] Bramwell Brown— a wise brown teddy bear, often considered second to Old Bear and the leader of the animals in Old Bear's absence. He is practical and is always making and mending things, cooking, knitting and sewing. He often has useful ideas and helpful suggestions. [3] Rabbit's cousin: female cousin of Rabbit, who occasionally stayed with the toys. She wore a straw hat, and seemed to like to cause mischief, and didn’t like cleaning.

The fantasy illustrations are the highlight of this book. Children will enjoy this old bear. It should make a good read-aloud. My favorite illustrations include young bear in Spring and in Winter, the four panel look at Old Bear asleep, and Old Bear emerging into spring in full bloom. Sailor— a sailor doll. Being the same size as Little Bear, Sailor has joined in his adventures. He loves anything to do with boats or the sea and knows a lot about both. [11] Ruby— a little toy mouse with a knitted red jumper. She is adventurous and playful with many ideas for new games. [15] I do love Kevin Henkes books. They are so simple on the surface - nice clear and sweet illustrations with beautiful colors and cute characters. My favorite part is the rich colors in each of the season (and I also love Old Bear's character design - cute ears!). It's an easy text for my story time crowd to follow, and a basic story about a dreaming bear and the seasons he enjoys. Only rarely when one is reading aloud does one have the opportunity to really look. So I like this better than I did the first time through. Yes, the text is simple and straightforward, but it's hard to be simple without becoming simplistic.Possibly this is a very bad idea for reasons I don't know enough to consider. Possibly someone will even point out the flaws to me. But maybe a children's imprint will do such a thing someday. Isn't it pretty to think so? The dolls: a family of 3 dolls (a father, a mother (Mrs. Doll) and a daughter) who lived in a dolls' house in a corner of the play room. Old Bear" is a fun, explorative book for young children, telling the story of a bear, dreaming about the passing of multiple seasons, including winter, spring, fall, and summer, that leaves the reader questioning how the bear will react when he wakes up -- will he be disappointed in what he sees outside, or ecstatic? What will await his eyes when he awakes?

Old Bear: an elderly dusty teddy bear, he was put up in the attic when he reached an advanced age, but was rescued by the other toys. They now looked up to him as a fearless, yet wise, leader.Jolly Tall: a toy giraffe who despite his height didn’t like heights - he said his head thought it was high enough already.