Friendship Story in Easy Reader That Will Remind Readers of Pooh Bear and His Friends

Julian Gough and Jim Field's Rabbit & Bear: Rabbit's Bad Habits will keep young readers engaged with the hilarious adventure that Bear and Rabbit have with a snowman and the wolf. Bear wakes up early after a brief hibernation and it's still winter. He thinks that he has been robbed and his honey, salmon, and beetles' eggs are gone! He leaves his cave to go out in to the snow. He discovers that it is really not spring yet. Bear has always wanted to make a snowman and decides to start with making a huge snowball. Rabbit appears and gives orders for Bear to roll his snowball away. Bear does not want to stop building the snowman and decides to ignore Rabbit's wishes. Rabbit hears Bear singing as she continues to build her snowman and Rabbit decides that building his own snowman might be fun. A surprise visitor appears and the wild adventure begins. Friendship becomes stronger than hostility and Rabbit saves Bear from the surprise visitor. They build a snowman together. Young readers will discover who stole Bear's food that she had saved for winter hibernation. Rabbit and Bear decide to hibernate together in the nice warm cave.

The illustrations are done in neutral colors of blue, white, and black. The text is designed for easy reading and beginning readers will be engaged with the story. The lesson of friendship will be a lesson for young readers to relate to.

Rabbit and Bear: Rabbit's Bad Habits was published by Silver Dolphin Books and is recommended for ages 6-10. It has an ISBN of 978-1-68412-588-3. The book will remind readers of the stories with Pooh Bear and his friends. The story makes a great addition to a beginning reader's library.

Julian Gough's Rabbit & Bear: Rabbit's Bad Habits is a great choice for early readers and one to add to the classroom library. The text and vocabulary are written for ages 6-10. It can be read in one sitting and young readers will find this to be a hilarious page-turner to find out what happens to the surprise visitor. It also makes a good choice to be read in a story-time session with a group.

*Read together in a story-time session. Call attention to the fact that Bear wakes up early from his hibernation. This can lead to a discussion of why bears hibernate for a separate lesson later on.

*Introduce the vocabulary word "gravity" and "avalanche" that are used in the conversation between Bear and Rabbit.

*How do these two words add humor to the story?

*How do Bear and Rabbit cooperate to make the perfect snowman? Introduce the concept of working together as friends to solve a problem. Offer this activity as a language activity for students. Allow students to contribute their ideas for working together on a project. Write students' ideas on large chart paper to be read. This activity teaches that students' words can be written and read as their own. Beginning writers will want to write their own ideas for working together on a project.

*Place large drawing paper, blue and white crayons along with gray for students to draw their own versions of the story. The illustrations in the story are very different from most in the use of these neutral colors. This activity teaches that neutral colors are important in art. Students will enjoy using these neutral colors to create more winter scenes.

*Reading aloud skills are valuable for early readers. This short story is perfect for students in early elementary grades to practice their skills in reading aloud.

*A vocabulary lesson can be offered to call attention to the words "plop", "thud", and "sniff" that are written in an exaggerated text. How do these words add to the action in the adventure?