The Grizzly Bear Who Lost His GRRRRR! is at its core the ideal read aloud. The cadence and rhyme scheme trip off the tongue as readers follow our favorite triangular grizzly bear on his journey of self-discovery from self-centeredness and an obsession with winning to a place where friendship rules supreme to the point of mercy. Biddulph’s award-winning illustration style creates images that are as engaging as the text itself, seamlessly switching between comic-book and more traditional style illustrations. The utilization of popping fonts in just the right amount and inclusion of delightful details (such as the flirtatious bunny to watch for on every spread, video game-like scores, etc.) that will continue to emerge through multiple readings add to the re-readability. Sensitive readers may be off-put by the bear event involving scaring of humans or the underwear perenially hanging from the stag’s antlers in the background, but choosing to focus on this minutiae at the cost of enjoying this book to the fullest would be a mistake. What do we discover about the looming and moustached Boris? With Fred’s decision to invite Boris “round for dinner” rather than ostracize him for his thievery, we’re reminded that Boris isn’t a bad guy, he just did a bad thing—an important distinguishment for children who need to be reminded that they are not their mistakes.
I love the rhyming in this book, and love the messages! At the end of the day, we should remember to be thankful friends that support us!
Rob Biddulph is a phenomenal children's book author and illustrator, and I love his work in The Grizzly Bear Who Lost His GRRRRR!. His creative rhyming leads readers through a wonderful tale of the value of competition and friendship, while his fun illustrations bring the story to life.
This is one of my very favorite recent books. I love the illustrations, I'm an absolute sucker for a great rhyme scheme and the message is phenomenal: friends matter more than winning.
He is a bestselling and multi award-winning author/illustrator. His first picture book, Blown Away, was published in 2014 and was only the second illustrated book in history to win the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. It was read as a CBeebies Bedtime Story by Mark Bonnar in 2017. His second book, GRRRRR!, was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway medal and his third, Odd Dog Out, was nominated for a total of eight literary prizes, winning the BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award and the UKLA Student Shadower’s Vote Book Award. It was also read as a CBeebies Bedtime Story by Tom Hardy in 2017. His fourth, Sunk!, was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway medal and shortlisted for The People’s Book Award and Oscar’s Book Prize, and his fifth, Kevin, was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway medal and shortlisted for the BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award and the IBW Book Award. His sixth book, Happy Hatchday, is the first in the brand-new Dinosaur Juniors series, and the second, Give Peas a Chance, published in July 2018. As well as working on his own books he also illustrates for other authors including Jeff Brown (the Flat Stanley series), Piers Torday, Jess Butterworth, SE Durrant and Christian O’Connell. Before he became a full-time author/illustrator he was the art director of the Observer Magazine, NME, Uncut, SKY and Just Seventeen. He lives in London with his wife and three daughters and hasn’t given up hope that, maybe, one of them will go to an Arsenal match with him one day.
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