I had mixed feelings about this book. I like the message it provides to the readers. The message is about the importance of teamwork and to treat others how you want to be treated. That is very important to teach children at a very young age. I also thought that the characters were believable and relatable to children. The bear found a way out of hard work by tricking his friends into pushing the wagon all the way back up the hill with the bear in it! I feel like some young children try to manipulate difficult situations to go their way when they do not feel like working hard for what they want. In the end, the bear’s friends tricked him back and pushed the wagon down the other side of the hill with the bear in it. Then the other animals tell the bear that it was not nice to trick his friends and that he should push the wagon up the hill with them in it so he can see how they felt. I did not like the illustrations in this book because I felt like they were unrealistic and very distracting. The pages were filled with crazy and bright colors in weird disorganized designs, which I felt took away from the story. ( )

Summary:
The Lady Bear focuses on a bear who loves riding his wagon down a hill. When he gets tired of constantly pushing his wagon back up to the top of the hill, the bear invites all of his friends along to push the wagon up the hill for him. The bear’s friends are not happy that he is bullying them and no longer want to play with the bear. By the end of the story, the bear is able to learn that bullying your friends is not nice and therefore apologizes to all of his friends.

Review:
Great book to start teaching children about the basics of bullying and how it can effect their peers and themselves. We become aware of this message when the bear's friends tell him that they do not like the way that he is treating them and they do not want to be bullied. ( )

I've been working my way through Brian Wildsmith's gorgeously illustrated picture books recently.

Unfortunately, many of them are out of print, but quite a few libraries still have them hidden away on their shelves. The Lazy Bear is one of my newest favorites. The lazy bear has an endearingly suprised-looking face, and the most ruffly, tuffly fur I've ever seen. The characters involved in action are splayed around exuberant splashes of flowery colour, representing the hill, which is central to the plot.

The spreads are also full of Wildsmith's magical birds, each one differently marked, fluttering in feathery clouds around the bear and his friends. The bear's friends include a deliciously stripy raccooon, fuzzy deer, and tousled goat.

Unfortunately, like most of Wildsmith's stories, the plot, dialogue, and the whole text in general are just blah. The bear finds a wagon, discovers how fun it is to ride down the hill, gets tired of pushing the wagon up the hill, and cons his friends into doing all the work. When they revolt and punish the lazy bear, he realizes how mean he was and makes amends. The text is pedestrian and didactic - as always, one wishes Wildsmith had gotten someone to write better stories for his beautiful art.

Verdict: Some of Wildsmith's books have been reprinted, but not this one. Worth getting if you're a collector, but the blah stories make this a poor choice for storytime.

ISBN: 978-0192796936; Published June 1987 by Oxford University Press; Borrowed from the library; Added to my personal wishlist

The illustrations in the book are FANTASTIC!!! I just loved everything about this book! ( )

Fine condition