Genre
Picture books for children
Storyline
Action-packed
Subject
Bears
Bedtime
Hibernation
Play
Raccoons
Sleep
Snow
Winter
Character
Anthropomorphic

Brett Helquist is definitely one of my favorite illustrators. ( )

Bear finds it difficult to get to sleep in this engaging picture-book from author/artist Brett Helquist, who also illustrated Lemony Snicket's popular A Series of Unfortunate Events. With winter having arrived, it is time to hibernate, but his raccoon friends want him to come out and play instead, and the sounds of their happy play prevents him from falling asleep. Finally goaded beyond endurance, he emerges from his house in a terrible temper, only to be inveigled into a wonderful day of fun in the snow...

The second picture-book I have read that was both written and illustrated by Helquist, following upon his Grumpy Goat, Bedtime for Bear pairs a fun, engaging story with appealing artwork. The exuberance of Bear and his two little raccoon friends, and the fun of their games is ably captured in the visuals here, as is the affection amongst them. Helquist's depiction of their faces is quite well done, and their expressions are often quite droll. The indoor scenes, which show Bear in his bed, are cozy and cute. All in all, a sweet little bedtime book, particularly well-suited to winter-time. ( )

This book is about a bear during hibernation. It is the start of winter. Most animals hibernate during this time, especially bears. Bear is trying to sleep but his friends are trying to get him to come outside one last time. They tell him they won't see him till spring and he should come. He tries to igonore them but they won't stop. He finally comes outside to tell them to be quiet and they through a snowball at him. When he tries to chase them, he trips and falls down a hill. He is cold and wet but he was laughing. He starts playing with his friends, building snowmans, sliding in the snow, and snowball fights. The day is gone and it's time for everyone to go home but bear says one more time because he won't see them till spring. They play one last time and then they finally go inside. Bear finally goes to sleep, and won't be up till the spring. ( )

The raccoons are right. Bears don't truly hibernate, so it's ok to encourage them to play in the snow a bit. Cute.

Edit. Now scientists have changed their minds again. Well, that's ok. That's what science is about - you figure things out, then you collect more evidence, and realizing you'd misinterpreted and so now you have to refigure. So, we all get to learn something today...

See www.bear.org:

Do black bears hibernate?

Short answer: yes.

When people defined hibernation simply in terms of temperature reduction, bears were not considered hibernators. However, when biologists discovered the many metabolic changes that let black and grizzly bears hibernate up to 7 ½ months without eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating, they realized that body temperature was only a small part of hibernation.

They redefined mammalian hibernation as a specialized, seasonal reduction in metabolism concurrent with scarce food and cold weather (Watts et al. 1981).

Black bears are now considered highly efficient hibernators.

Hibernators the size of chipmunks hibernate differently. They lower body temperature to near freezing but wake up every few days to raise body temperature to near normal, eat stored food, and eliminate body wastes. Then they lower body temperature and repeat the cycle.
The confusion about what to call black bear hibernation is a matter of definition. Further confusion has arisen because it differs with region and fatness (see other exhibits).

People have called black and grizzly bear hibernation torpor, winter sleep, dormancy, and carnivorean lethargy. The leading physiologists now simply call it hibernation. ( )