There's a Bear on My Chair

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An irate mouse does everything he can to shift the bear who is hogging his chair in this rhyming picture-book from Scotsman Ross Collins, but nothing seems to work. Glaring is ineffective, and his attempt to frighten the ursine interloper by jumping out in his underwear goes unnoticed. Finally, driven to distraction, the mouse goes off and finds another place to rest. Eventually getting bored, the bear heads home, only to discover that now he is the one who must deal with an intruder... Bears on Chairs was followed by Bears in Beds and in 2014 by Bears and a Bath. Illustrator David Walker is currently preparing more adorable bear pictures for a fourth book, Bears and a Birthday.

This is my second time around as a children's book writer. When my own 3 children were young, I had 8 books published. My children grew up and for a time, I wrote women's fiction. Now I have 6 grandchildren, all girls. I'm writing for children again and loving it! It's called Bear on the Chair and it was created by a North Royalton six-year-old and now it's really taking off.The story is what it is, there is a bear on the mouse’s chair. In clever rhyme, Collins explains the many ways the mouse has tried to remove the bear from his chair. There is a style of Dahl and a touch of Seuss in the rhymes which are fun and create a great flow as you read, coupled with great visual text to help with emphasis on certain words and highlight the mouse’s frustrations.

It's not just for good or bad behavior, it could be used for anything, it could be used for potty training, it could be used to brush their teeth, go to bed on time. anything really," Harrison said.

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This book is one of my favourites. From a brief read it presents as a book about the goodness of sharing, yet Collins intends for it to be so much more. The book won the Amnesty CILIP Honour in 2016 and promotes the idea of equality, acceptance and tolerance. The bear constantly being in the mouse's way and using his things symbolises the way that many people in British society feel about refugees and immigrants. Collins is trying to show, by the mouse eventually needing something from the bear, that we must treat others as we would wish to be treated.