Cute book with a cute story and super cute illustrations. While the story is about being in love and being shy, kids can relate to it in way that how we admire someone but are too shy to approach them. For example, admiring a classmate and wanna be friends/play/share lunch with them but feeling shy to do so. I think shy kids would like reading the story.

Cute illustrations of a bear and a squirrel. Bears love for squirrel is adorable and all of the bear gives squirrel are cute. I love how there was this confused miscommunication until the end. Shyness and love all around.

This is a hard book to review. I love the message about love and that a bear and a squirrel could be in love, but I would much rather this be a book about friendship. Showing children that it is okay to show you care about others, even if they don't look like you, is a good message. Love on the other hand, can be confusing to children. I enjoyed the illustrations, they were cute and very child appropriate. The fact that bear is very shy and afraid to talk to Squirrel so leaves little gifts instead is quite sweet. Taken at face value, after reading it to an almost 4 year old, she liked the book. She thought it was nice that bear and rabbit were good friends. She didn't get the whole shy idea (she doesn't have a shy bone in her body) but liked the story. My grandson was kind of meh about the whole thing. He listened with his sister, but didn't have a lot to say about it. I can see including a story like this in a unit of acceptance, sharing your feelings, differences etc. in a primary classroom.

A cute story about expressing feelings and not being too shy to do so.

Bear loves squirrel. He brings her gifts but disappears before she sees them. She does not know who her secret admirer is until Bear is lifted into the air when he gets tangled in a kite string.

The story is just the right length. It is long enough for children to get a sense of how Bear feels and, also, that he is too shy to tell Squirrel. I disagree with other reviewers that it sends a message that you must give gifts to get love. Bear gives Squirrel gifts because he wants to show her that he loves her but doesn’t have the courage to tell her outright. She doesn’t ask for gifts to love Bear.

In the end, Squirrel gives Bear a hug. From that he learns that if he had spoken up sooner, Squirrel would have known how he felt and they could have been spending time together.

The illustrations are cute. They are muted colors which are perfect for this book. Bright, in-your-face colors would detract from this clam and loving story.


I received an ARC from Clavis Publishing through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am submitting this review voluntarily and am under no obligation to do so.

The illustrations were so cute! It was an adorable book overall, and shows how to love. Definitely recommend for every kid!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of Bear in Love. Such a sweet little story about a bear who is too shy to tell Squirrel of his love for her. All the presents he left for Squirrel were very sweet, especially when he gave his love to her. Squirrel returned Bear’s love. Sweet book and cute pictures. My grandchildren love it.

#BearInLove #SamLoman #NetGalley

I received this arc from Netgalley for an honest review. This picture book is about a bear who thinks his neighbor is sweet and leaves gifts for her.

Bear loves Squirrel but is too shy to admit it so he brings her anonymous gifts instead. Will he ever get the courage to tell Squirrel who her secret admirer is?

Very cute illustrations. No mention of Valentine's Day in the book, but it could be read or put on a library display for the holiday.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a cute picture book about a bear who is in love with his friend squirrel but is too shy to tell her. He sends her gifts as tokens of his affections and squirrel is intrigued as to who her admirer is.
I enjoyed the cuteness of this book but did feel that the age range was a little young for the story in a sense.

“Bear in Love” is the sweet story of a bear who is nervous and shy about telling Squirrel that he likes her. Bear shares thoughtful expressions of his feelings for Squirrel, which sparks Squirrel’s curiosity. The text has been treated in a way to emphasize certain words, but comes out visually disjointed and distracting via awkward placement on the page/overlapping the illustrations, or creating odd shapes on the page.

Charming illustrations are matched with a simple story about a little bear who is 'in love' with a squirrel, and leaves presents for her. The drawings are terrific, really adding a nice lovely tone to the book and perhaps mitigating a message that could be a bit 'off' for young readers. It's touted as 'perfect for Valentine's Day', yet is aimed at preschoolers and new entrants. I thought it was a lovely wee tale, but I could see other parents being put off a bit by the 'love' message - as opposed to if it had been more about friendship or liking someone etc. A tricky balance, perhaps.

*thank you to Netgalley, Sam Loman and Clavis Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


3 stars.

Umm. This is a cute book BUT the age group for this feels all wrong. Maybe it's just me but it just gives me an uneasy feeling. Still the illustrations are really good.

This was such a cute story. My grand daughter enjoyed it so much I had to read it to her three times. The characters were adorable. The story was beautifully written. I would definitely recommend this book

This was a short little sweet story of a bear that loves a squirrel. A wonderful way to show children that our differences shouldn't make any difference when we care about someone. I look forward to sharing it with my grandchildren.

The art is really cute in this picture book but you have to not think too much about the plot. A bear is in love with a squirrel and does little anonymous things for her. Strangely, they are the same size and he seems to be a really, really tiny bear. It's a little weird having a book about romantic love for young children. It's billed as a Valentines book but little kids don't really need to have romantic love pushed on them so much at such a young age. The text is a little clunky, like many children's books these days. This would make a cute library read but I wouldn't buy it for a child's home collection.

I read a temporary digital ARC for the purpose of review.

Cutest story ever on how sweet innocent, shy love can be. A great read to teach children it's ok to be a gentle soul. Good book for Valentine's read.

This is a short little book about how Bear tried to show Squirrel that he "loves" her. I have a problem with both the message and the use of the term love quite loosely.

I would rather read a book to my grandchildren about friendship and liking someone a lot. I prefer to save the term love for family and very close, close friends.

I thought the illustrations were cute but nothing really new or special happens in this book. I wouldn't purchase it or hand sell it.

thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book. I wanted to review it on Goodreads but couldn't find it listed there.

This is a short picture book story that has sweet illustrations. It tells the story of Bear who loves Squirrel but is too shy to let Squirrel know directly. Instead, Bear leaves small gifts for Squirrel. Squirrel does not know who her secret admirer is. By the end of the book, the two make a connection. Children will be glad to see that they have gotten together.

This book is for young children who will relate to the the wish to be friends. It may read differently to older children who might not want to have someone whom they do not know reaching out to them anonymously. Still, for the age group of the book, I think that it may be well received.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read Bear in Love to my daughter and she was captivated by the beautiful illustrations. The story is sweet as it follows a Bear who wants to give a gift to a friend he loves but is too scared to do it in person. The message of acceptance and appreciation is beautiful and every child should read this book to help them understand how to be giving and generous to one another.

This book will be published on January 28, 2020.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Very cute story and pastel illustrations. Bear is so thoughtful, we should ask bear for future gift ideas.