Just like a favorite teddy bear sits quietly at the ready waiting for his chance to cuddle, sometimes a good lesson waits quietly below the surface of an entertaining story. Told with the soft natural painting of author/illustrator Steve Smallman, Kind Mr Bear, is the type of story that has many different layers. On the surface it’s a sweet story about a bear who falls ill and can no longer complete his daily living activities on his own. But just under the surface, it’s a great way to introduce the topic of aging and a reduction in abilities to young children.

I received an electronic ARC from Quarto Publishing Group through NetGalley.
A delightful story with a powerful message for all ages - who helps the helper? Mr. Bear is kindness personified. He delights in helping others and they have started to take that for granted. One day, he becomes ill and no one is around to help him. One young mouse realizes the animals haven't seen Mr. Bear and goes looking for him. She rallies the forest animals to come and help Mr. Bear. They realize how selfish they've been and remedy this by taking care of him. By the end of the story, everyone is helping each other.
Lovely, detailed illustrations that support the text and message. Smallman allows readers to think for themselves as they move through the story. Excellent opportunities for discussion.
The Next Step section at the end is about one of his other books so I'm guessing it's a place holder in the ARC version. If it follows other Smallman books, the discussion questions and activities will be easy for families to follow.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I loved Kind Mr Bear! This was such a touching book with an important lesson. Everyone needs help and kindness! Mr. Bear is always helping others but when he needs help only one little mouse realizes that it would be kind to help him too. Soon the forest animals are at Mr. Bear's help repaying the kindness! Such a good lesson to teach kids! The illustrations were also beautiful. A timeless book with an important lesson.

This was a stunning children's book with a very powerful message about being kind and helping others. I adored this and would recommend it to any child.

I totally loved this book. Before I retired I was a preschool teacher, and with out a doubt would have used this story in my classroom. I firmly believe, especially in this day and age, that all teachers should find it their responsibility to teach our children about more than reading, writing and arithmetic (as it were). Its a sad but undeniable fact, that we our unable and ill-advised in relying on our future generations to grow up learning the types of virtues, values and morals, we desire our leaders of tomorrow being instilled with. And even if they are being taught these very valuable and fundamental lessons at home, as teachers we should be backing up the parents and caregivers in forming the very foundation on which we would have our upcoming world be built on. Well my goodness that's a lot to put on Kind Mr Bear, so let me just add this. I found the illustrations to be absolutely adorable and know with complete certainty that the children will as well..... :o)

I love this book. It’s much better way of getting the message across than Chicken Little. The story is well told and the illustrations are stunning.

I love this book and the pictures! A cute way to show appreciation and to remember to thank others for their help and to help others in return. This is the type of book that you could “discuss” with kids, would be good for story time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC.

So freaking CUTE!!!
The story is sweet with a great message for tiny humans.
Did I mention the illustrations are absolutely wonderful? Well they are!!!
Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for my DRC.

This is a very short book, illustrated by the author, about a kindly old bear who helps everyone in the forest. He helps recover a kite from a tree(that is, a toy kite, not a bird of the same name!), lift heavy things, and shelter the tiny denizens of the forest from surprise rainstorms. People take Mr Bear for granted until he's not there any more. When he's sick is when people miss him, and finally it dawns on those forest folk that maybe Mr Bear could use some help.

The book was wonderfully-illustrated and the story poignantly told, and I commend it as a worthy read. The only oddity is that in a section in the back, title Next Steps, the discussion topics weren't about Mr Bear, but about Percy and Posy the penguins. I suspect this was put in there as a place-holder for a new discussion page to be written for this particular book, and that has not yet been added since this is an advance review copy. Presumably that will be fixed before the final version is published!

*thank you to Netgalley, Quarto Publishing Group - QEB and Steve Smallman for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*


5 stars.

Ohh such a beauty! This is a really heartfelt story, in sadness and happiness. 

Mr Bear is such a kind hearted bear. He's always there to help out the other animals in the forest and he is always polite, wishing them Good Morning each day. But after awhile, he is taken for granted and not appreciated by the other animals. They stopped saying Thank You. Then one day, he gets sick and the other animals realise just how much Mr Bear means to them.

It is so beautifully told and sends a very important message to children, and as a reminder message to all adults aswell. That message is to be thankful for those that help us, to be there for each other and to remember to always be kind.

The illustrations are just stunning! They are so softly detailed and brilliantly coloured that you could easily just spend time looking at them on each page without reading the words, which makes this a perfect book for children to do just that, if they are unable to read the words by themselves.

I highly recommend this.

This book reads like a fable. I used to enjoy reading these as a kid. I think for this modern generation, it would be a suitable book to have in a classroom to teach kindness. It could lead to some discussion about taking people who help us everyday for granted, and the importance of manners. I don't think it's a book kids will get terribly excited about and ask to read over and over--but I think it serves its purpose nicely.

Mr Bear is a staple in the neighbourhood. All the animals know him, love him and have come to rely upon him for help. Over time, as Mr Bear is getting older, the animals are beginning to take advantage of him. There are less "Pleases" and "Thank you's" and more "Mr Bear, where are you"s?

What happens when old Mr Bear gets a cold? Who will be there to care for him they way he cares for his neighbours?

This delightful, thoughtful and heart warming story comes from an experienced author and illustrator. Steve Smallman has many books under his belt and they are all brilliant. This one is no exception!

Kind Mr Bear is a perfect read aloud book and an excellent empathy builder.

The illustrations are simply beautiful and they bring this simple story of friendship to life.
I would definitely recommend this for all KS1 classrooms and school libraries.

Love this book! I loved thinking there would be a next step to it but that part was not referring to this story. Might be because it is a preview copy. Would love to use this book for story time.

What an adorable story! The pictures and text work together seamlessly. This would be a great read-aloud for individuals or a group of students age 4-7.. The discussion tips and activities are quite doable and the book lends itself well to referring to later and situations relate to the important morals of helping one another and not taking friends for granted..

Being kind, learning to be grateful are character feature that you usually learning by obsering other people behavior. We learn it from our parents or peers and we are further behaving in those ways. Can the cycle of kindness stop? When we forget to be grateful for the help and the support so much needed during hard times, the source of our comfort may cease.
Kind Mr. Bear is a delicate story about a bear who's helping everyone in the forest but as humans do, the animals took it for granted and even forget to say 'thank you'. But when he is getting sick and everyone is left alone, they are reminded how much he means for the community and how important is to help each other.
It is a kind story about doing acts of kindness, beautifully illustrated and whose lessons resonate regardless the age.

What a wonderfully sweet and ingenious way to teach kids about developing kindness. Graphics are a perfect accompaniment. The back is set up for parents to use the story as an opening to discuss being grateful and a friend. Something we all could use reminders of.
I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

What a beautiful book. Mr Bear. Is always around to help everyone around. People get so used to him they become to expect his help. Then suddenly he’s not there.
This book teaches children the importance of not taking people for granted. Being polite and looking out for other. The wonderful illustrations mean you are able to have plenty of discussions with children. I’m sure this book will become a classroom favourite

The illustrations in Kind Mr. Bear are fantastic. The sheer detail is astonishing. The story flowed very well, and I think this is the perfect storyline for younger children learning about sharing and caring. I like the additional conversations points, although only one question was related to the actual story, the others were for a different book. Lastly, the second and third pages, I believe the text script too light that it blends into the background. Overall I give this book top marks.

I love the cover for this story and the images inside the book are just as nice. The story is a lovely one about not taking elder people (and people in general) for granted as one day they won't be there to help you. The story was easy to follow and I read it to my daughter who joined in and pointed out the different woodland animals too. It is 4 stars from me for this one

This is a very simple, very short story about a kindly old bear who looks after everyone else in the forest. But when he gets sick, he finds himself all alone. It isn't until the animals realize how much he's done for them that they realize how good of a friend he's been... and how they can be good friends in return.

Like I said, the story is very simple. Where this book shines is in the adorable illustrations. I really don't have any complaint there.

This being an ARC, though, there are a few problems. There's a typo on the back cover, at least one in the dialogue (which is also unnecessarily italicized), and the parents' guide at the back is for another book (which appears to be another of Smallman's titles, The Not-So-Brave Penguin). If these issues are dealt with, this could be a fairly strong picture book for young children about kindness and not taking our friends for granted.