Pistes d'exploration

Talk about the story. Why do you think Bear changed his mind about the mouse?

What do you like to do when visitors come to your house? Act out how you show hospitality to guests.

Talk about the benefits of sharing. What do you find difficult to share?

Listen to the story and predict what will happen before you turn the pages.

Discuss how Bear changes in the story. Describe the mouse’s personality. Do you think he knows that Bear is lonely? What does Bear discover about himself? Why is friendship important?

Make a class list of polite expressions and words of encouragement from the book. Use them the next time you work in a group. 

Act out the story, taking the parts of Bear and the mouse.

Boris Starts School, A Splendid Friend, Indeed, Friendship Is Like a Seesaw

Mots-clés

Picture book , bears , cooperation , friendship , loneliness , mice , persistence

Commentaire descriptif

Bear has a pleasant home but prefers to keep to himself, so a large sign hangs on his door: “No visitors allowed.” One day a mouse comes by, hoping for a cup of tea. Naturally, Bear refuses, but the mouse keeps popping up—in the dish cupboard, in the bread drawer, in the fridge with the eggs. After every eviction, the mouse gets back in. When stopping up the chimney and plugging the bathtub drain don’t succeed in keeping the mouse out, Bear falls apart. With a few skilled flicks of a pen, Bear’s facial expressions switch from smug to aghast, from frustrated to serene to apprehensive and back again. The text leads young readers through the story with an elegant wit: “He opened the fridge. Mouse-free. Yes, indeed!” As the story progresses, Bear’s responses elevate from a mild, “No visitors allowed,” to “Out!” and “BEGONE!” Type-size is varied, to assist in expressive reading. Children will respond to the mouse’s persistence, in all its variations, with increasing glee. When Bear finally relents and allows the visitor into his home, he is charmed by the mouse’s good company. ‘“Oh that!’ cried Bear, pulling down the sign and tearing it up. ‘That’s for salesmen. Not for friends.’”