I Thought This Was a Bear Book

Once upon a time there were three bears, and an Alien. What, hang on. An Alien. Poor little Alien has landed in the wrong book. Of course he begins to greet those he thinks are the people of this strange world, having a rather one way conversation with the odd tree or bush. He finally happens on a family of bears, who seem to be having their own troubles. They'll do anything to not have to eat porridge again, and that pesky little girl with the blonde curls seems to have ruined everything in their house.The bears climb about the little Aliens ship, in the hope it will take them someplace to find blue berries instead of porridge, but the poor little Alien, he just wants to get back to his book, to page 27, where he of course saves the day. The bears finally take things into their own hands, offering a few rather useless solutions, but as least they get to use all the stuff that that little golden haired girl has broken.To no avail, the poor Alien is still stuck in the wrong book, until little bear offers a solution, that of course none of the adults had thought of. I can't reveal, it as that would ruin the story, but my little girl loved it and finally, we see the Alien return to page 27 to save the day. The bears also return home, only to find, uh oh, who's that in their house.I thought this was a bear book is a wonderful mish mash on a classic theme, that had my little girl mesmerized from start to finish. The illustrations are delightful, and you will find yourself studying every page to notice what is really going on in this awesome new offering by Tara Lazar and Benji Davies. We highly recommend as a read aloud for ages 3-6.

This book is full of charming illustrations that draw the reader into the story. It's a beautiful hardcover book with dust jacket which automatically makes it a keeper for the special shelf!. The story is about an alien who found himself in the middle of the story of the Three Bears and he's trying to get back to his own story.The book draws the child into helping the alien get back to his story with some interactive elements and encouraging them to think how to solve the problem.Fun!!!

The first time I read this book, I wasn't totally impressed and my kiddos didn't seem to be either....but they have kept picking it over and over, night after night...and it's turning into one of my favorites. It's different than typical books for kids and is fun because it's a little bit interactive and makes you think about other characters from other stories.

loved the slightly sarcastic tone, kids loved the unexpected characters

I absolutely love this story for its lovable characters, both new and familiar! My kids love the colorful illustrations, and we all enjoy reading this story! The new twists keep my young boys interested, while the adults laugh at the inside jokes of the classic nursery rhymes that run through the background. This is a great book!

My 2nd graders LOVED it!! They thought is was hilarious!

Awesome book that parents and kids will both love!

Tara Lazar is a prolific children’s author with an imagination that is intriguing and humorous. I Thought This Was a Bear Book is her second of five books so far, with another one coming out this spring and one in 2018.In I Thought This Was a Bear Book we meet the bear family – Papa, Mama, and Baby – out berry-picking. Overhead there is an alien spacecraft obviously in trouble and coming in for a landing. Only Baby seems to notice at first.On those first two pages of the story the words are “Once upon a time there were three bears.” From then on those words are the only ones that are not conversation between the characters in the story, aside from onomatopoeia, such as WHOOSH and THUNK! Also, those two pages are illustrated by Benji Davies to look like the pages of an open book.pparently, the alien somehow fell out of his book and landed in theirs! Such a conundrum. He was quite bewildered and when face-to-face with the bear family he was indignant at being called a martian. “I am Prince Zilch from Planet Zero!” he informed them. They set out to try to find a way to send him back to his own book in time for him to save the planet from giant planet-eating numbers. See what I mean about Tara’s amazing imagination? I would never have come up with an idea like that.This story is quite funny with the prince saying zark, zoot, zinder when he is feeling overwhelmed. A tour bus stops for tourists to take pictures of the bears and the alien, while Prince Zilch and the bears are trying to find a way to get him back to page 27 in his book. Goldilocks even makes her appearance, much to the bears’ dismay.There are many ideas they come up with, all the while Baby Bear is trying to get their attention so he can share his idea on how to help. Benji Davies‘ illustrations add so much to the story, some being really funny, and all bright and interesting. As you read you must pay attention to the extra activities going on in the story through the illustrations – just because it’s so much fun.Tara even includes the reader in helping to solve the prince’s problem, making it an interactive book in that way. I Thought This Was a Bear Book is an entertaining read for which you might want to have a little extra time to enjoy and share with a young reader or pre-reader. There is so much entertainment in the story.

This IS a bear book--a Goldilocks and the Three Bears book--but it's also an alien book. It's a marvellous mish-mash of stories with an alien, Prince Zilch, erroneously ending up in the wrong storybook. He and the bears try all kinds of tricks to get him back to his own story with a fantastic twist in the ending. The book is told mostly in dialogue and has hilarious lines for young and old alike. The vibrant, humor-filled illustrations add to the fun, and there's also some interactive elements that my kids loved. No doubt about it, this is an original, clever, and brilliant picture book!