My Friend Bear

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Synopsis

Eddy is feeling sad and lonely, and so is the bear. They don't have any friends, just their teddies. When Eddy goes walking in the forest, he comes across the giant teddy he knows belongs to the bear that frightened him. When he hears a noise, he hides behind it, only to hear the bear crying about not having friends. Knowing what that feels like, he pretends to be the voice of the big teddy to console the bear. When the bear finds Eddy, he's scared, but then Eddy realizes how funny it was that the bear thought his teddy could talk. They share a big laugh and then spend the day seeing who can be sillier, pretending their teddies can talk, and by the end, they've become best friends.

Review

My Friend Bear is the third and final book in Jez Alborough's Eddy and the Bear children's picture book series. In the first two books, Eddy and the bear were afraid of each other. In this one, both Eddy and the bear are feeling sad because they have no friends. Eddy is in the forest one day and comes across the bear's giant teddy, which he immediately recognizes as belonging to the big bear that scared him before. When he hears noises, he hides behind the giant teddy. The bear appears, crying, so Eddy consoles him by giving a voice to his big teddy. Eventually the bear figures out what's actually going on and the pair have a great laugh over the fact that the bear thought his teddy could talk. Then they spend the day together, pretending to make their teddies talk to one another, and by the time the day is over, they've become the best of friends.

The first two books of the series were pretty humorous, especially the first one. My Friend Bear still has touches of humor as Eddy and the bear pretend to give voices to their teddies. Mostly, though, this is a really sweet book about making friends. Readers got to see these two being very scared of each other in the previous books, but this time, Eddy shows a little bravery, as well as empathy for the sad, lonely bear, and it pays off in helping them both make a new friend. The illustrations are cute and express just the right amount of emotions, whether it's sadness, fear, laughter, or caring. Overall, this entire book series has been awesome and has left me looking forward to checking out more of the author's work.

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Jez Alborough