The Bear Under The Stairs

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I thought the ending had an unnecessary twist and would leave children to continue being afraid of the dark, and the scary creatures that they believe exist in the dark. Therefore I would recommend this book for children aged 3+ as well as adults who are feeling rather nostalgic! She has also written and illustrated children’s MG fiction and the latest – The Taming of the Cat – published in October 2023. Since I was not going to use the book on a daily basis, I did not feel that I needed to spend a lot of money for a new book. Cute little book, my toddler and kindergartner enjoy, addresses children's fears of the unseen - how they can let their imagination run wild.

Overall I think that this would be a good book to read aloud to young students and could get a few "ohh's" and "aww's" during story time.William thinks he sees a bear that lives in the closet under the stairs and he keeps his eyes closed whenever he's near the closet. It would make a lovely book to be read at storytime as there is opportunity for lots of conversation and discussion about the ending of the book.

The repetitive language ‘wham, bang, thump’ is also a fun way to encourage children to join in with the reading. This book is a short story about a boy who believes there is a big brown grizzly bear living under the stairs in his house. Helen Cooper is an author and illustrator whose work includes classic picture books such as The Bear Under the Stairs , Pumpkin Soup , The Baby Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed and Tatty Ratty . The character of William, who is the child in the story is so afraid that there is a grizzly bear in the closet under the stairs. For any child with fears of dark places in your own home, this book might help them to see that their fears are all in their imagination.Since I am by career a first grade teacher, I felt this was a great story to use with children to talk with them about their fears.

William is afraid of the cupboard under the stairs he is convinced there is a big bear living there. The first came 'The Hippo at the end of the Hall' which was both written and illustrated in black and white by Helen and longlisted for the Carnegie medal in writing. When William's mom finally comes to his rescue to combat this scarey bear, he realizes maybe there wasn't a bear there after all.Helen Cooper is an author and illustrator whose work includes classic titles such as The Bear Under the Stairs, Pumpkin Soup, The Baby Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed and Tatty Ratty. This is a three-week Writing Root in which children will look at the book The Bear Under the Stairs and use it as a model to discuss their fears and how they deal with them.

The Bear Under the Stairs is about a young boy who believes there’s a bear living in the storage closet beneath the stairs. A lovely short story with beautiful illustrations about a young boy dealing with a common fear for things lurking in the dark. It’s a chronological narrative using lots of alliteration, rhythm and rhyme – it’s really a poetry book as well as a story.There was no wifi, and the TV was tiny, with only two channels, and even those only worked when the clouds were the right shape. Her books have been translated into 30 languages and won many awards including the Library Association Kate Greenaway Medal – twice. However, in using it with youth, I didn't want there to be crayon marks and tears on the pages as some of the reviews noted.