We are introduced to a bear who is bored with life in the forest.

There must be something more, he thinks. Then he stumbles across a book that had been left in the grass. It has lots of pictures of a bear just like him, but there are also a great number of words that he can’t read.

He feels that the bear in the pictures is having a more exciting life than him so he decides to go into town to find someone who will teach him to read the words in the book.

Of course a bear wandering around a town causes a bit of a stir and the police arrive in riot gear to try and send him away. But a young girl sees the bear who is carrying a book she thought she had lost. So she asks her mum if they can take the bear home and teach him to read. The mother says yes, of course, because this is a story book.

So the little girl, who is learning to read herself, teaches the bear everything she knows. And together they start on the adventure that is being able to read a book.

It’s a lovely story, and a beautiful book with bold colourful illustrations. There’s plenty here for conversation, and to keep reading and looking at the pictures again and again.