Touring Picture Book Club – The Boy and the Bear by Tracey Corderoy & Sarah Massini

Welcome to another Touring Picture Book Club! This month we’re sharing a gorgeous book all about friendship through the seasons – The Boy and the Bear by Tracey Corderoy, illustrated by Sarah Massini and published by Nosy Crow.

In this book we meet a little boy whose only wish is to find a friend to play with, he searches all over for someone but with no joy. Until one day a message floats across the water on a little paper boat, a message from a friend. Bear.

Unfortunately, Bear isn’t quite the play mate that the boy had hoped for, he just doesn’t understand how to play his games properly. But then, Bear starts to build a treehouse and the boy and the Bear become firm friends in their new den.

 

They stay in their treehouse all summer and through to autumn, having a magical time playing together. Until winter comes with the first fall of snow and Bear disappears. The boy is distraught, where has his friend gone? He sends many messages over the frozen water but there is no reply.

At long last the ice begins to thaw and spring arrives bringing with it warmer weather and of course, Bear. The two friends are finally together again!

A truly heartwarming book about friendship and a great book to discuss the changing seasons and hibernating animals. Sarah Massini’s evocative illustrations capture the tender friendship between this pair perfectly in stunning seasonal backdrops.

Ice Sensory Play and Experiments

 

This book got us thinking about the colder weather that sets in over the winter so we decided to have a go at some ice sensory play. But first we needed to make some ice. We collected lots of small toys and items and popped them into an ice cube tray before filling with water and putting into the freezer.

Once they were frozen I put them into a bowl with some different play tools and set my two boys the challenge of freeing the items trapped in the ice.

It was really interesting to see how differently my two set about solving the problem, my eldest immediately started trying to bash the ice away with a toy hammer, whilst my youngest decided to try and melt the ice by holding it in his hand.

This was a great activity for discovering more about ice and how it changes state and it sparked so many questions; Why does the ice melt in your hand? What would happen if we left the ice cubes on the windowsill? How could we stop the ice melting? What do you think will have happened to the things inside the ice cubes?

My eldest pointed out that hot water would melt the ice so we tested that out and poured hot water into a little bowl with ice cubes (I did this bit with their hands firmly out of the way!) Sure enough, the warm water melted the ice so my youngest put more ice cubes into the warm water. This then led us to talk about what would have happened to the warm water now it had lots of ice in it.

 

This was a great activity that kept my boys entertained and really got them thinking. It was also a really good way to practice fine motor skills when using the tools. And you’ll be pleased to know that eventually all the treasures were freed from the ice!

Be sure to check out these other great activities in the Touring Picture Book this month:

Mamma Filz – Crafting a Wooly Hat
Along Came Poppy – Origami Fun
BookBairn – Nosy Crow Audiobooks

Buy The Boy and the Bear from Wordery.

Many thanks to Nosy Crow for sending a copy of this book for review.

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