Books like Bear's New Friend
By Karma Wilson
For the kid who's always the one hanging back at the edge of the playground, this story makes room for the shy one to finally join in. Warm, gentle, and full of curious anticipation, with a cozy summery feel.
A small boy and a big friendly bear head off on a berry-picking adventure, paddling canoes and crossing bridges through Berryland in search of blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries for jam.
As night falls and the woods grow cold, a big bear loses his way on a crooked trail — so his friends take to the sky and ground until they find him and bring him safely home.
A lonely chameleon changes his color and shape to match a swirly snail, a pink cockatoo, a green grasshopper, and other objects, hoping each one might become a friend.
A hug-loving mer-boy named Kai learns to ask before squishing his underwater friends, after his enthusiastic embrace startles a puffer fish into puffing up with fright.
Two friends imagine what kind of dogs they'd be — one dreams up being a big dog, the other little — as their game of pretend becomes a way of working out who gets to decide what happens next.
Deep in a snowy forest, a bear who should be hibernating stays wide awake, so his worried animal friends gather to brew tea and sing lullabies to help him finally drift off.
A father and his four children set off to catch a bear, crossing grass, a river, mud, a forest, and a snowstorm before a narrow cave forces a sudden, breathless retreat.
A young spider records his everyday life in diary entries — spinning sticky webs, scaling walls, taking wind-catching lessons, and surviving the occasional run-in with a vacuum cleaner.
A young boy explores a farm, noticing how each animal finds shelter and safety, comparing their hiding places to God's protection — until a rain storm sends him looking for shelter of his own.
A hungry squirrel searches for the nuts he buried, poking around a nest of fledglings, Mr. Owl, Frog, Vole, Mole, a cave of bats, and the woodchopper's house along the way.
A witch and her cat fly happily on a broomstick until the wind blows away her hat, bow, and wand — and the animals who return them all want a ride, leaving no room to spare when a hungry dragon attacks.
A girl balances a basket of seven delicious fruits on her head, walking to surprise her friend Akeyo, while hungry animals secretly help themselves along the way.
