Jane Hissey is well known for her beautiful Picture Book series, featuring Old Bear and his friends. The stories are gentle and simply told, perfect for very young readers to cuddle up with a loved one to read at bedtime.
In her latest story, it's Little Bear's turn to have an adventure. It's Christmas eve and all of the toys are decorating the tree when Little Bear suddenly realises the Silver Star tree topper is missing, and the tree simply won't be right for Santa if it doesn't have the star in place!
The other toys all try to make helpful suggestions for other items, but Little Bear knows there's only one thing that will do.
All the toys settle down for the night, excited for Christmas morning, but there's one toy who simply can't get to sleep, he just knows that the other toys would be SO happy if he could find the missing star and get it to the top of the tree before morning - and so his adventure begins, like a small fuzzy Indiana Jones, he heads off in search of the treasure, to ensure Christmas Morning magic for his friends!
Beautifully illustrated in an almost soft-focus style that emphasises the soft plushness of the toys, the story follows Little Bear's adventures, falls and rescues on his Christmas Eve night. With themes of friendship and kindness woven through it's a perfect bedtime story for Christmas Eve - perhaps as you sit and look at your own star above the tree!
Jane is one of those rare multi-talented people who not only write, but also illustrate their stories. Lots of love and time has been especially lavished on Little Bear's Christmas adventure, as lockdown allowed more creative time than usual, without the usual interruptions of meetings and engagements. You can see the result in the carefully crafted illustrations that complete the story.
Interested to know more about the toys behind the adventures? Jane tells all here:
What made you choose soft toys for your stories & do you have a favourite?
All children have soft toy ‘friends’ and to them these toys have a life and a personality of their own. By writing about toy characters I am able to leave reality behind a bit and take my readers into a world where anything can happen. There is just a bit more freedom for adventures when toys are involved. Old Bear was my childhood teddy bear (given to me by my Grandmother when I was born) so I am particularly attached to him. But he wasn’t always called Old Bear. When I was little I just called him Teddy and later Rupert Bear after the Rupert Bear books that I really loved. I seem to remember for a while I renamed him Timothy Teddy after a friend in the village where I lived. It seems names were not very important to me! And since writing and illustrating the books, Old Bear and the other toys, have hardly been out of my sight. I have drawn them both hundreds of times and they have travelled with me to meet children all over the world.
How important do you think it is that parents read with their children?
Oh it is so, so important for parents (or whoever is around) to read to children and to continue to do so long after they can read for themselves. When you think back to your childhood you can really remember the magic of being read to. You can concentrate on the story itself rather than the process of reading and therefore follow stories that you probably could not read fluently yourself. It is a wonderfully bonding experience to share a book, especially to come back to it night after night, chapter by chapter. The reader can give a child a lifelong love of books and that is a great gift.
Little Bear and the Silver Star is out now, pop a copy in your family Christmas Eve box!
Publisher: Scribblers, Salariya Book Company Publication date: 1 September 2020 ISBN: 978-1913337445
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