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Thomas & the Bear #1
How to Share with a Bear
The perfect thing to do on a chilly day is to make a blanket cave. But, of course, a comfy cave never stays empty for too long...What's a boy to do when a bear takes over his cave? Try to distract him with a trail of blueberries? Some honey? A nice long back scratch?
How to Share with a Bear is a story about how although it's not always easy, sharing with a sibling can make things even more fun!
How to Share with a Bear is a story about how although it's not always easy, sharing with a sibling can make things even more fun!
34 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 2015
2 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Eric Pinder
25 books38 followersEric Pinder lives in rural New Hampshire, where he enjoys the outdoors and sometimes shares the nearest wild blueberry patch with a foraging bear. His books for children include If All the Animals Came Inside and Cat in the Clouds. He teaches creative writing at the new Hampshire Institute of Art and earned his M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
January 20, 2016
One cold day, Thomas gathered some pillows and blankets and made a warm, cozy cave.
http://images.macmillan.com/folio-ass...
The cave was too dark to read in, so Thomas went to get a flashlight. When he returned, he could hear something bump and thump and move around in the cave.
SOMETHING BIG.
Thomas peered inside. Two shy brown eyes stared back.
IT WAS A BEAR!
How is Thomas going to deal with this bear? He tries various things. He makes a trail of blueberries leading away from the cave. The bear follows them and eats them. Thomas grabs his favorite book and hightails it back to the cave. But it was
TOO LATE!
The bear was already there. Caves never stay empty for long.
Thomas knows that bears love to scratch their backs on trees. So he gets his mom's back scratcher for the bear to use.
This frees up the cave for Thomas to read in, until a floating tuft of bear fur tickled his nose.
Thomas has to leave the cave to get a tissue - and when he comes back, the bear is in the cave again!
http://images.macmillan.com/folio-ass...
Bears love to fish in streams, so Thomas filled the sink and dropped in some bath toys.
Splish.
Splash.
Splink.
The bear came running.
Thomas barely got comfortable in his cave before he heard a new noise.
Gurgle.
Burble.
Plink.
The bear must have turned the water back on. Thomas went to shut the faucet off.
The bear passed him in the hall.
Can Thomas ever get rid of this bear?!?!!?
Bears like honey, so Thomas set out a bowl of honey oat cereal in the kitchen. He put on his honeybee costume and said BZZZZ! as loud as he could.
Then he dashed away flapping his arms, leading the bear downstairs.
The fact that this kid has a honeybee costume to pull out and use in emergencies is very cute.
When the bear starts eating the cereal, Thomas runs back to the cave to read.
That's when the bear came back.
When he saw Thomas in the cave, he tried to snuggle in next to him. But the cave was too small. The bear started to cry.
We now see that the bear (whose face was hidden to us in every picture) is actually a two-year-old in a bear suit.
Thomas feels bad about tricking the bear and tries to expand his cave to fit both of them, but it caves in.
The boys build a bigger cave together and end the book snuggling and reading together while sharing a bowl of blueberries.
And Thomas learned that bears like one thing even more than fish or blueberries or honey.
They like their big brothers.
THE END.
Pinder also includes a tutorial at the end called How To Build A Cave, which explains how to build a cave (or as we called them, forts) out of cushions and blankets.
...
THE PLUSES:
- Clever how the bear's face is hidden from you until the big reveal that it is really the little brother in a bear suit. I spent the whole book wondering if this was a "real bear" from Thomas's imagination, a 'living teddy bear,' also from his imagination, or a kid. Your children will also like guessing and like the reveal.
- Cute pictures.
- Non-white main characters. I'm not sure whether they are Latino, or Indian, or what, but they have light brown skin and black hair. I always mention when children's books have non-white MCs, because it's important not to read only 'white kid' books with your children (regardless of if your children are white, brown, black, or whatever).
- The end pages are also cute, with fat little bears doing stuff like fishing, eating a hive of bees, scratching their backs on trees, etc.
- Subtly and almost imperceptibly conveys some information about bears to the child. Bears eat honey, fish, and berries. Bears like to scratch their backs on trees. Depending on the age of your child, this might be new information for them, and even if it's not, it's good information reinforcement.
- Cute marmalade cat - the family pet - makes random and fun appearances in the book.
- Nice message about bonding with, tolerating, and learning to get along with your younger siblings. Younger siblings can be annoying, but they can also be your friends.
- No adults of any kind are present at any time. I find this a plus in kid books.
THE MINUSES:
- I don't have anything really bad to say about the book, but it wasn't a favorite with the children. I mean, they liked it. But they weren't giggling or begging me to read it again, or anything.
Tl;dr - Cute, calm, and I thought it was rather clever, but it may be too low-key for some young readers.
Ages 0-6.
http://images.macmillan.com/folio-ass...
The cave was too dark to read in, so Thomas went to get a flashlight. When he returned, he could hear something bump and thump and move around in the cave.
SOMETHING BIG.
Thomas peered inside. Two shy brown eyes stared back.
IT WAS A BEAR!
How is Thomas going to deal with this bear? He tries various things. He makes a trail of blueberries leading away from the cave. The bear follows them and eats them. Thomas grabs his favorite book and hightails it back to the cave. But it was
TOO LATE!
The bear was already there. Caves never stay empty for long.
Thomas knows that bears love to scratch their backs on trees. So he gets his mom's back scratcher for the bear to use.
This frees up the cave for Thomas to read in, until a floating tuft of bear fur tickled his nose.
Thomas has to leave the cave to get a tissue - and when he comes back, the bear is in the cave again!
http://images.macmillan.com/folio-ass...
Bears love to fish in streams, so Thomas filled the sink and dropped in some bath toys.
Splish.
Splash.
Splink.
The bear came running.
Thomas barely got comfortable in his cave before he heard a new noise.
Gurgle.
Burble.
Plink.
The bear must have turned the water back on. Thomas went to shut the faucet off.
The bear passed him in the hall.
Can Thomas ever get rid of this bear?!?!!?
Bears like honey, so Thomas set out a bowl of honey oat cereal in the kitchen. He put on his honeybee costume and said BZZZZ! as loud as he could.
Then he dashed away flapping his arms, leading the bear downstairs.
The fact that this kid has a honeybee costume to pull out and use in emergencies is very cute.
When the bear starts eating the cereal, Thomas runs back to the cave to read.
That's when the bear came back.
When he saw Thomas in the cave, he tried to snuggle in next to him. But the cave was too small. The bear started to cry.
We now see that the bear (whose face was hidden to us in every picture) is actually a two-year-old in a bear suit.
Thomas feels bad about tricking the bear and tries to expand his cave to fit both of them, but it caves in.
The boys build a bigger cave together and end the book snuggling and reading together while sharing a bowl of blueberries.
And Thomas learned that bears like one thing even more than fish or blueberries or honey.
They like their big brothers.
THE END.
Pinder also includes a tutorial at the end called How To Build A Cave, which explains how to build a cave (or as we called them, forts) out of cushions and blankets.
...
THE PLUSES:
- Clever how the bear's face is hidden from you until the big reveal that it is really the little brother in a bear suit. I spent the whole book wondering if this was a "real bear" from Thomas's imagination, a 'living teddy bear,' also from his imagination, or a kid. Your children will also like guessing and like the reveal.
- Cute pictures.
- Non-white main characters. I'm not sure whether they are Latino, or Indian, or what, but they have light brown skin and black hair. I always mention when children's books have non-white MCs, because it's important not to read only 'white kid' books with your children (regardless of if your children are white, brown, black, or whatever).
- The end pages are also cute, with fat little bears doing stuff like fishing, eating a hive of bees, scratching their backs on trees, etc.
- Subtly and almost imperceptibly conveys some information about bears to the child. Bears eat honey, fish, and berries. Bears like to scratch their backs on trees. Depending on the age of your child, this might be new information for them, and even if it's not, it's good information reinforcement.
- Cute marmalade cat - the family pet - makes random and fun appearances in the book.
- Nice message about bonding with, tolerating, and learning to get along with your younger siblings. Younger siblings can be annoying, but they can also be your friends.
- No adults of any kind are present at any time. I find this a plus in kid books.
THE MINUSES:
- I don't have anything really bad to say about the book, but it wasn't a favorite with the children. I mean, they liked it. But they weren't giggling or begging me to read it again, or anything.
Tl;dr - Cute, calm, and I thought it was rather clever, but it may be too low-key for some young readers.
Ages 0-6.
November 28, 2018
Thomas makes a cave for himself out of pillows and blankets one chilly day, but finds that his retreat is being perpetually invaded by a little bear. He tries everything he can think of, from trails of blueberries to enticing honey treats, but nothing he does seems to rid him of this ursine pest. Eventually he decides to share his cave with the bear, and the two settle down for a cozy story-time...
This winsome little picture-book from author Eric Pinder and illustrator Stephanie Graegin features a bit of a surprise ending - the bear turns out to
This winsome little picture-book from author Eric Pinder and illustrator Stephanie Graegin features a bit of a surprise ending - the bear turns out to
December 26, 2021
This was an adorable picture-story. I love the simple water color paintings! The boy wearing the bear suit as well is very cute. It’s a great children’s story or a new big sister or brother story of how to encourage sharing with friends and family.
July 3, 2018
This was adorable.
November 16, 2015
Thomas made a pillow cave on a cold day. But when he went to get a flashlight to read by, he noticed that something big had taken over the cave. Something with two brown eyes looked back at him when he looked inside. It was a bear! To get the bear out of his cave, Thomas laid a trail of blueberries down the stairs and sure enough, the bear followed eating them up. Thomas ran to get books to read in his cave, but he was too late and the bear had already returned. He tricked the bear with a back-scratching stick and then got inside the cave, but stray bear fuzz had him sneezing and running for a tissue. In the meantime, the bear returned. Thomas tricked the bear again and again into leaving the cave, but when the bear returned finally and Thomas was already in the cave, something happened. The bear started to cry, revealing himself to be Thomas’ younger brother. There was only one thing to do!
Pinder has created a book sparkling with creativity. His young protagonist who is battling the invasive brother bear comes up with clever ways again and again to trick the bear into leaving the cave. Pinder keeps each of the tricks appropriate for both a bear and a little boy, keeping the audience entirely fooled until his reveal. I was completely convinced of this being a little bear and expected the book to end with a teddy bear of some kind. It was a delight to discover a different twist that speaks to how to be a good older sibling.
The illustrations from Graegin are key to keeping the audience convinced of the bear being real. She subtle makes sure that the face is not shown until that moment of reveal. The book glows with a yellow warmth that invites curling up under a blanket or in your own pillow cave to read it.
A great pick for bear story times, this picture book shows how hard sharing can be. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Pinder has created a book sparkling with creativity. His young protagonist who is battling the invasive brother bear comes up with clever ways again and again to trick the bear into leaving the cave. Pinder keeps each of the tricks appropriate for both a bear and a little boy, keeping the audience entirely fooled until his reveal. I was completely convinced of this being a little bear and expected the book to end with a teddy bear of some kind. It was a delight to discover a different twist that speaks to how to be a good older sibling.
The illustrations from Graegin are key to keeping the audience convinced of the bear being real. She subtle makes sure that the face is not shown until that moment of reveal. The book glows with a yellow warmth that invites curling up under a blanket or in your own pillow cave to read it.
A great pick for bear story times, this picture book shows how hard sharing can be. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
January 13, 2016
SO precious. Wish I had it in last week's storytime on Bears, but it is really better for preschoolers than my baby group, but I think the parents would have loved it, and I would have put it out on display to encourage checkouts if we had it on time.
I LOVE the creative way this author has a young boy build a fort-like cave out of blankets to make a good reading corner, but then finds it inhabited by a BEAR!
He uses all sorts of creative techniques-- blueberries, honey, a bath with toys, etc. to lure the bear out of his homemade cave, hoping to catch a few minutes of quiet reading time, but somehow the Bear always returns to grab the spot before to boy can get in with his books.
When the boy finally outwits the bear and beats him back to his hiding place, the bear returns and begins to cry.
Who is this disappointed bear who only wants to climb into this cozy cave?
Find out in a great story with warm, fuzzy drawings and tender feelings in a book PERFECT for sharing with parents looking for books about siblings, sharing, little brothers, big brothers, imagination and families.
Eric Pinder has included a 1 page simple step-by-step "How to build a cave" for the new reader encountering this idea of using cushions and blankets to make their own secret place for the first time.
I LOVE the creative way this author has a young boy build a fort-like cave out of blankets to make a good reading corner, but then finds it inhabited by a BEAR!
He uses all sorts of creative techniques-- blueberries, honey, a bath with toys, etc. to lure the bear out of his homemade cave, hoping to catch a few minutes of quiet reading time, but somehow the Bear always returns to grab the spot before to boy can get in with his books.
When the boy finally outwits the bear and beats him back to his hiding place, the bear returns and begins to cry.
Who is this disappointed bear who only wants to climb into this cozy cave?
Find out in a great story with warm, fuzzy drawings and tender feelings in a book PERFECT for sharing with parents looking for books about siblings, sharing, little brothers, big brothers, imagination and families.
Eric Pinder has included a 1 page simple step-by-step "How to build a cave" for the new reader encountering this idea of using cushions and blankets to make their own secret place for the first time.
September 30, 2017
A little unexpected. I thought it would be a book about sharing set in a common, imaginary circumstance where animals and humans are friends. It turned out even better and more relatable, but still simple.
What caught my eye were the illustrations. It was obviously the same illustrator as the Water in the Park and You Were the First, both excellent, sentimental books for different reasons.
What caught my eye were the illustrations. It was obviously the same illustrator as the Water in the Park and You Were the First, both excellent, sentimental books for different reasons.
January 9, 2016
A true picture book because the illustrations are integral to the story as we see the bear, but don't discover the bear's identify until the end.
Even though the illustrations are rather simple, they are fun to look at.
Children with younger siblings who are, at times, pests, will enjoy this!
Even though the illustrations are rather simple, they are fun to look at.
Children with younger siblings who are, at times, pests, will enjoy this!
December 30, 2019
Thomas built a blanket cave only to discover a bear had moved in while he was getting his books. He tried all sorts of things to distract the bear and use his cave. In the end, he built a bigger cave he and his little brother could share.
January 7, 2016
Thomas learns that although siblings can be beasts, sharing with them isn't so bad after all.
September 18, 2018
This is a cute story about sharing and imagination. The children loved this book.
December 29, 2015
It WASN'T A REAL BEAR? Talk about disappointing.
September 20, 2016
Love
brothers
family
brothers
family
March 5, 2018
This story is about a little boy, Thomas, who builds a "cave" to go read in. Soon enough, there is a bear that is in the cave and Thomas thinks of different ways to distract the bear including feeding him and letting him get in the bath. Every time Thomas leaves the cave the bear crawls back in. Eventually, the bear is sad because he can't get in the cave with Thomas and so Thomas decides to build a bigger cave so that the two could share. This book includes the themes of friendship and sharing. Eventually Thomas and the bear are together and sharing and enjoying the cave together. I enjoyed this book because I thought the ending made it such a sweet story. I also enjoyed the illustrations and how the author included real facts of things that bears enjoy doing. This is a good book for young children because it is fairly imaginative but also teaches things like sharing and these real things that bears enjoy. It is told in a humorous and sweet way and I think that younger children would really enjoy it. The end also gives instructions on how to build a cave of your own and I think young kids would love to do it after reading.
February 1, 2025
Summary: The boy in the story builds a fort, and when he looks inside, there is a bear! Throughout the book he tries to find different ways to lead the bear away from his fort so that he can have it all to himself. When he finally gets his fort back, the bear sees that there's no room left and begins to cry. Up to this point in the book we couldn't see the bear's face, but now it shows that the bear is a little brother dressed in a bear costume. The older brother rebuilds the fort to make room for his brother, and they share it.
Response: I thought this book was very sweet. I love that you can't see the bear's face until the ending, where we see it is a little brother. It's a very creative story and teaches the reader about sharing and caring.
Ideas: I could use this book in a group therapy setting so that the children learn more about sharing with each other. I could recommend this book to parents as well so that they can read it at home, with siblings.
Response: I thought this book was very sweet. I love that you can't see the bear's face until the ending, where we see it is a little brother. It's a very creative story and teaches the reader about sharing and caring.
Ideas: I could use this book in a group therapy setting so that the children learn more about sharing with each other. I could recommend this book to parents as well so that they can read it at home, with siblings.
May 29, 2019
I used this for a 2nd Grade Reading Group. We were looking at the Five Mindset Stances: Empathy, Flexibility, Resilience, Persistence and Optimism. This week was Flexibility - Not getting "stuck" when your first way of trying something doesn't work. I'm going to have to move beyond my first idea. I'm going to see other possible actions I could take. When one thing doesn't work, I'm going to try a different way, and then another way after that.
April 26, 2023
This is a funny book best for readers around 1st-3rd grade. It teaches the importance of sharing and how to change up ideas/activities so that more people can be included. I also like how at the end it teaches kids how to make a “cave” (fort) so it inspires the kids reading the book to also build a fort and share it with friends or family.
August 28, 2021
This was sweet and the illustrations drew both of us in. My little kid liked the stuff in the background of their world, how real their cluttered imaginative play environment looked. My big kid liked the sibling relationship.
March 28, 2022
This book shows the importance of sharing. I loved reading this book because the bear who Thomas did not like at first was really his little brother in the end. I think any child would benefit reading this book! Such a cute and wholesome read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2022
This picture story was really sweet. This book contained some color painting for illustrations which gave it a unique look. It's a wonderful children's story or a story for a younger sibling or brother on how to promote sharing with friends and relatives.
July 19, 2024
This is the perfect book to read when you have a new sibling in the family. The ending is a bit surprising and encourages the reader to think about how they play and share with their brother/sister. My kids loved it and asked me to read it again and again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2017
Very sweet and a great book for siblings.
December 21, 2017
To share with a bear. Awwww
August 5, 2018
Oh my goodness, YES!! This story is absolutely adorable and the illustrations are beautiful. LOVE!
May 3, 2019
Such a cute book with sibling love! I love the illustrations and the kids loved the story.
September 8, 2019
Sweet sibling sharing story.
January 27, 2020
Big brother Thomas and little bear sharing a warm, cozy cave.
January 27, 2023
This was a cute story about the importance of sharing. I think it would be good to have in a early childhood setting, maybe preschool-kindergarten.
March 28, 2023
A really cute story about sharing with a bear (who’s actually the little boy’s younger brother). I think this would be a good read before a class’s Read A Thon where they read all day.
March 28, 2023
So cute!I have to say, I did not expect that ending I was taken by surprise!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews