February Focus Title

 Wolf and Bear by Kate Rolfe

A heartfelt story about a playful young wolf and her best friend, Bear.

The two best friends always play together, whether it’s paddling in the stream, skidding in the snow, or tumbling in the falling leaves. But sometimes Bear feels sad and wants to be alone . . .

Wolf and Bear is a beautiful tale of kindness and hope, exploring the topic of depression. Authentic and sensitively illustrated, this picture book gently introduces young children to a topic which can often be difficult to discuss.

*Description and image taken from waterstones.com - no copyright intended*

For February, I chose one of the shortlisted titles for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Out of the six picture book titles shortlisted, Wolf and Bear would be my winner! It is an absolutely stunning book with a story about friendship and what it truly means to stand by someone in their darkest times, and is beautifully illustrated too. Bear and The Cub have both loved this book, and we have read it enough that by the end of the month, Bear could virtually read it to me. 

Another reason that I chose this book was that one of the main themes is Bear's mental health, which fit with Children's Mental Health Awareness week, and I used as a theme all month. It tied in perfectly and we were able to use it multiple times during other activities, discuss Bear and Wolf as characters and as friends, and think about how we could learn from their actions. 

For such a grown-up topic, Bear handled it fantastically and seemed to understand the idea of being there for someone even when they don't seem to want to play, which is how the situation is presented in the story.

Of course, there was a story basket, which is how I introduced the book this time. Both boys were involved in the first reading and they chose a character each and loved acting out the story. I included the rainbow silks to represent Wolf's howl, as it is illustrated this way, and I loved watching them run around with them and howl to show the song. 

There were multiple read-throughs over the course of the month, and each time Bear remembered a little more of the story and helped to read it, often having the characters at the ready for the next page, remembering what happened. It was regularly Bear's first choice if I asked is he wanted to choose a book to read, and it has since been taken to Nannie's because he wanted to read it with her too.

It truly is an exquisite book and I am so glad that Bear enjoyed it.

At the end of the month, Bear wrote his book review for the story. He practiced his cutting skills by cutting out the front cover image himself to stick on his review sheet, and gave the book five stars. When I asked him to summarise the book, he opened up the cover and basically read me the story! It was amazing, and something that I wish I had caught on video. He told me the story, turning the pages and reading it from cover to cover. I will point out here, that Bear cannot read! He has a fantastic memory and his recall is astounding. His retelling was him remembering the story from the times we had read it together, and in places, he was word for word. I couldn't fit it all in the box on the sheet and had to turn over. It wasn't technically a summary, but wow, I was so impressed!

When I asked what his favourtie part was, I was pretty sure I already knew the answer, and it is my favourtie part too. When Wolf sings, the illustration shows it as whisps of colour across the page - think 'the colours of the wind' from Pocahontas! And it is truly a breathtaking page. He chose that and decribed it to me as "When Wolf was singing her song" and then followed his words with a wolf howl!

For our March focus title, I chose a new title that seemed perfect! Wild Book Day by Karl Newson is an epic story about the characters of the books coming to life for the day. Its pages are full of magic and there is so much to see in its illustration. I thought it suited World Book Day on the 7th of March, so I plan to link in some activities based on the idea of storytelling during the month.

Have you read Wolf and Bear? Or any of the other Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlisted titles? I'd love to hear who would be your winner...

Mama Bear x