Book Week Bear by Rory H Mather

Title: Book Week Bear

Author: Rory H Mather

Genre: Humour

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st July 2023

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 24

Price: $18.99

Synopsis: Claire’s costume was amazing—she had hair and teeth and claws. Plus, there was the smell of fish coming from her jaws! Claire’s bear costume has a lot of flair … almost enough to give everyone a scare! But is it enough to win first prize in the Book Week parade?

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Everyone is ready for Book Week – and they’re all talking about what they are going to wear – astronauts, ballerinas, princesses …and Claire is going to come as a bear! So, when the kids turn up at school, they see a bear in an amazing costume – and Claire has even managed to g=find fishy breath! But as the day goes on, Claire the Bear starts to do some odd things – and is the costume enough to win the prize?

Rory H Mather has delivered another wonderful story that celebrates books, creativity, and Book Week for readers of all ages. Book Week is the most important week of the year – well, more like month, and books like this show the fun and joy that kids can have celebrating books and their favourite characters. It also shows the characters in some very easy to pull together costumes. It can be a good starting point – showing that a generic costume can be very versatile, and if you want to, you can dress up as a bear or pirate in this book and carry around the book at school – if you have a copy.

The delightful rhymes by Rory can help build an understanding and love of language, and it could become a book that is read and reread over and over, because it is the kind of book that will work for a wide range of readers and readerships, and many ages, not just very young people. I love that it is aimed at the very young people though because it shows them how magical books and imagination can be and takes an outlandish idea and turns it into something wonderful to show how the imagination of a child works. And I loved that Ruth’s illustrations brought Rory’s words and stories to life, inviting children and readers to evoke the magic of books and fall into the world of books and creation. It is one that shows that books are fun for everyone and I hope that it finds readers.