Nothing Can Frighten a Bear by Elizabeth Dale and Paula Metcalf

Deep, deep in the woods, with the moon shining bright, 

Some bears snuggled up in their beds for the night. 

There was Mummy Bear, Daddy Bear… 

Grace and then Ben… 

And Baby Bear, too, who lay dreaming, but then… 

As Baby Bear wriggled and stretched out a paw, 

He suddenly woke when he heard a loud… 

roar! 

Summary From Nosy Crow 

This September we’re publishing a wonderful picture book by a brand new author-illustrator pairing: Nothing Can Frighten a Bear, written by Elizabeth Dale and illustrated by Paula Metcalf. This is an absolutely FANTASTIC book: beautifully illustrated, with an incredible rhyming text, and a gentle, reassuring message that’s perfect for young children. 

Snuggled up in bed one moonlight night, Baby Bear is sure he hears a monster outside. Daddy Bear insists there’s nothing scary in the forest and, anyway, nothing can frighten a bear. But as the family of bears set out to make sure, and all vanish one by one, it looks like Daddy Bear might not be as brave as he seems… 

This bedtime story is full of comic surprises and gentle reassurance. After all, the things that go bump in the night are never as scary as you might think! 

****

Review by Liss Norton 

Nothing Can Frighten a Bear is going straight on to my 'Best Books of the Year' list. It's a hilarious story about a bear family going out in the night to investigate a scary roar. Daddy Bear's certain it can't be a monster because monsters don't exist but he starts to have doubts as his family begin to disappear. Of course, there's a happy ending, but I'm not giving it away! 

Elizabeth Dale's rhyming text is perfect – good rhythm and a terrific use of language – and sometimes the last word of each rhyming couplet appears on the next page so the reader has a chance to guess what it is before turning over. I read the book to Theo, aged six, and he loved guessing. (He was right every time.) He and I giggled all the way through the book; it's clearly going to become a favourite – for both of us! 

Paula Metcalf's beautiful illustrations match the text brilliantly. There's lots of detail to talk about in the pictures, but Theo and I didn't stop to chat, we kept reading to the end because we were so eager to find out what would happen. Later he said that his favourite page was the one where the 'monster' appeared because he knew what it was, but silly Daddy Bear didn't. 

I urge you not to miss this book because it's totally fab! And if anyone from Nosy Crow is reading this review, please let's have more from Elizabeth Dale and Paula Metcalf. What a duo!