Genre
Picture books for children
Storytime standouts
Tone
Amusing
Theme
Making new friends
Subject
Bears
Cleanliness
Friendship
Neatness and messiness
Opposites
Spiders
Stuffed animals (Toys)
Character
Anthropomorphic
Character duos

Bear likes his house to be very clean and he shares it with his stuffed friend Ursa. One day when they were cleaning, bear found a book out of place with a spider web on it. He started to freak out about the mess and started searching for the spider but the more he searched the more webs he found. Ursa's arm came off in the frantic search, so bear when to get supplies to help. When bear got back he found that the spider had already helped Ursa. Then bear found out that the spider was a lot like him and he decided that he would like to share his home with his new friend. I would maybe get kids to write about a time that they made a new friend. ( )

Bear, a large purple-brown rectangle with staring eyes, is definitely a neatnik. He likes everything just so and he doesn't like sharing his space with anyone except his stuffed toy, Ursa. When Bear finds a spider web... and then another... and another, he freaks out! He goes on a cleaning tear, searching for the spider he is sure is causing rampant destruction in his house. Meanwhile, the spider is quietly pursuing her own business. When Bear's panic causes him to damage his beloved toy, can anyone help him fix Ursa?

Muted colors and bold, broadly drawn shapes remind me of Chris Haughton's artwork, but this has a distinctive, almost modernist flair. Lots of pink and orange hues, and a tidy little spider with a button beret and an affinity for knitting add charm to this story about making new friends - and being flexible.

While I dislike many of the books that suggest solitary and/or introverted characters should change to accommodate their livelier "friends", I didn't get that feel from this at all. While the spider did leave a few webs about, most of the mess comes from Bear's panicked brain and when he slows down a little, he realizes the spider is just like him, enjoying a quiet life, books, and music. The spider also contributes, mending Bear's friend Ursa, instead of their contribution being to "improve" Bear's life by making him change his personality.

Verdict: This quiet story will make children chuckle and adults take a moment to think about how they help children with different personalities interact - as well as remind people to appreciate spiders!

ISBN: 9781681197203; Published June 2018 by Bloomsbury; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

A tidy housekeeper with an eye for detail, Bear kept his home immaculate, enjoying the cleaning process, and caring for his stuffed friend, Ursa. One day, he found a spider-web, and was thrown into a bit of a panic, as he began to notice webs proliferating everywhere. Searching high and low for this unwelcome guest, Bear made quite a mess himself, injuring Ursa in the process. Then the arachnid interloper proved that spiders could make very good friends indeed...

Having greatly enjoyed author/illustrator Jacob Grant's earlier picture-book, Cat Knit, I was eager to pick up this latest offering. All in all, I found Bear's Scare quite a winsome book, pairing as it does an engaging story with appealing artwork. As with his earlier title, I thought the artwork here was quite droll, capturing Bear's somewhat fussy nature, and his panicked response to unwelcome stimuli, quite well. I'm not the greatest fan of spiders myself, but I appreciated the message here about not judging based on appearances, and finding friends in unlikely places. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about making new friends and/or accepting a little chaos in our world. ( )