Part of Wilson and Chapman's Bear series "Bear Snores On" is a cute story of a hibernating bear sleeping right through a party his forest friends throw in his den. The motley painted pictures contrast the dark cold winter forest with the warm glow and happy gathering within the bear's den. Telling the story in a steady cadence, Wilson utilizes repetition, rhymes, to keep the words fun and hold your child's attention. Creative word combinations throughout the story like "pip-pop", "Sniff-snuffs", and "tweet, twitter, chat, and chitter" inspire your child to want to read - look how fun it can be!

Appealing to a large age group, "Bear Snores On" offers children the opportunity to learn some different forest animals, from bears, to moles, to badgers. Your little one can also follow along with the sentences and even start practicing sounding out words when they are ready, as there is a variety of length and difficulty in this book. They may want to repeat the silly world combinations. You can stop to talk about why the bear is feeling grumpy and left out when he first awakens, and how nice it is of his friends to including him right away.

My four-year-old niece, Emily, loves the whole Bear series. Her favorite part of this book is when the bear wakes up and sneezes, as we all join in and exaggerate the giant "achooooooo!" In fact, we have fun making all the sound effects together like the wind whooshing, the mouse pitter-pattering and squeaking, or the bear snoring. This is a great bedtime story for Emily, as she says the sleepy bear sometimes makes her sleepy too.

--Audra